The Lemurian Paradox
by atheistbasementdragon
Summary: NOTE: Branch Story from God Rising. Ainz decides he needs to make a tour of his domain, visiting the Baharuth Empire, Carne Village, and E-Rantel. On his journey he finds unexpected figures, makes accidental changes, and proves to himself that his greatest powers of all are not magic spells, but improvisation and pure dumb luck.
1. A New Beginning

Ainz sat on his throne as Leinas Rockbruise knelt in front of him. He held the missive that the emperor had dispatched on the attempted and failed trial public abuse of Neia Baraja **(*AN: Mentioned in the story 'Memory & a Message C8 and happening in the story 'God Rising: The Cult of Ainz C20)**, and he read through it calmly.

"I will thank the emperor for this information, but...he could have dispatched a common servant for that, why did he send you, one of his finest knights?" Ainz asked.

"My lord has dismissed me from his service, and sent me to you in the hopes that I may serve you as I have served him." She said, not without some hint of nervousness.

"Did you displease him?" Ainz asked, a hint of danger in his voice that shook her to her core.

"Never my lord, in fact he dispatched me with a recommendation for my service, if my lord will permit me to provide it." She asked, keeping her head deferentially bowed.

Ainz gestured to Sebas, who approached the armored knight and held out his hand, she quickly fished through her pack and took it out, then handed it to the butler, who broke the seal and read it aloud.

"This servant has served me loyally for many years in exchange for a boon I was never able to grant, by my sacred duty and honor as the emperor of the Baharuth Empire and vassal of the Sorcerer Kingdom, I cannot retain her while I continue to fail her. It is my fervent hope that my lord will accept her service with my warmest thanks to her for her service, and yourself for your studious lordship, and do for her what I could not, that she may be made whole." Sebas's noble voice carried perfectly the spirit of the emperor's message, and Ainz nodded Sebas rolled the recommendation back up.

"It sounds like a ringing endorsement." Ainz said, "But what precisely is the problem.

Leinas grimaced as her head was lowered. "Would my lord like to see...it?" She asked.

"Do so." Ainz said.

She held her grimace, and reached up slowly, with some hesitation, and swept her hair out of the way, revealing the gaping pus filled wound that constantly pooled and dripped down her face. She looked up at him boldly, without even permission to raise her head, prompting instant outraged reaction from the denizens of Nazarick who moved to 'correct' her breach of protocol, when Ainz snapped out "Stop!" anticipating their actions, they froze, and repositioned themselves as they were. "She is caught up in her agony, I will forgive her transgression." He said with a noble sweep of his hand as if wiping away the stain of her brief misconduct.

"Thank you my lord." She said sincerely. "I received this curse when I was a lone adventurer, though I slew the monster, it cursed me to suffer this, and I would trade anything...anything, to be free of it. If...you wanted even my body...it would be yours. No price is to high." She said with a blush of embarrassment on the clean area of her face.

"Will you excuse us Lord Ainz." Shalltear and Albedo asked daintily.

"As you wish." Ainz said to them, and they walked out of the room at an unhurried pace, and down a hallway, then briefly before it cut off, several shrieks of rage echoed back to the throne room, and a few moments later the pair returned as if nothing had happened.

"You are well?" Ainz asked.

"Yes my lord." Shalltear said.

"We simply had a brief disagreement." Albedo added, leaving off whom it was with.

Ainz shrugged it off and gestured for them to reclaim their places.

"Come closer, Leinas Rockbruise." Ainz said, and she stood and walked step by step towards the face of death, when she was a few feet away, he held up his hand, and she held stock still as his skeletal finger swept her hair aside again, and he said, "Identify curse." He waited in silence, and she stood breathless, looking at the skeletal face that had killed over two hundred thousand humans, fearing for that moment that even he might not be able to solve this problem.

"Easily cured." He said.

Leinas wanted to cry.

"Will you...my lord?" She asked.

"If I command you to reproduce with another strong figure, to create strong heirs to my service?" Ainz asked.

She froze for a moment, and he thought she would refuse, but though she blushed when she answered, she said, "If what I bear never sees this on my face, I will obey." She said with conviction.

"Will you die for me?" He asked.

"If it means dying without this on my face, I would die for you ten thousand times." She said passionately.

"If I tell you to become a vampire?" He asked.

"Then I will bare my fangs for you and live off the blood of your enemies, if only my face no longer bears this taint." She said without hesitation.

"If I order you to execute your own family, would you do it?" Ainz asked, curious as to the lengths she would go.

"My lord, when my family saw my curse, they cast me out, my own father said he'd rather see me abused in a brothel than see me as his daughter ever again. My mother wept and said there was nothing hideous permitted in her house, my fiance cast me off like trash, saying no noble could be married to something he was ashamed of. I traded my life to Emperor Jircniv on two conditions, that he strive to find a cure for me, and that he avenge the cruelty done to me by the family who abandoned me. He fulfilled the second condition, but he was never able to fulfill the first, and now here I stand, ready to do your will, even if it leaves me broken and ground into dust...as long as I can see my face 'clean' of this hateful curse before the moment of my demise." She said, her eyes unflinching, desperate, hopeful.

Ainz raised his hand and brought his chin down to it as if in contemplation, as if considering her request, when he had already decided to grant it as he remembered the absence of his own father and the abuse of his mother, and the words of Touch Me..."Helping the weak is just common sense", plus this was a particularly strong human, worth winning to him, but at the same time giving for nothing was often seen as suspicous in this world, he made up his mind in a moment.

"I will accept your offer, serve me in this life, agree to any resurrection of your body, any transformation or experiment I dictate, and any task I give, even should it mean becoming a vampire and serving me in unlife, and I will cure your curse this very moment." Ainz said, it was a lot to ask from his perspective, but when Leinas heard these terms it was as if she were being offered the world for mere pocket change.

"I am yours to command to live or die, my lord." Leinas said with absolute certainty.

"Then descend the stairs, kneel, and take the oath I give you." He said.

She rushed down the stairs like a child on Christmas day, and knelt immediately with her head raised adoringly to his face.

"I, state your name." Ainz said.

"I, Leinas Rockbruise," She said.

"Vow to serve the Sorcerer King in life and unlife." Ainz said.

"Vow to serve the Sorcerer King in life and unlife." She repeated.

"To enforce his will, his justice, and his codes." Ainz said.

"To enforce his will, his justice, and his codes." She repeated.

"To defend his people, land, and rule from all enemies both foreign and domestic." Ainz said.

"To defend his people, land, and rule from all enemies both foreign and domestic." She repeated.

"By my god, I take this oath." Ainz said.

"By my Lord Ainz Ooal Gown, I take this oath." She said, deliberately replacing god, with the Sorcerer King's name.

It gave him pause, but as he saw the guardians present nod in approval, he let it pass.

"I in turn promise to treat you justly, that you will retain a place in my ranks, never want for the needs I may provide, so long as your oath is true." Ainz said formally.

"And now the oath is made." Ainz said, then he stood descended the stairs, and then struck her across the face as soon as he came close enough. "And that is so you remember it." He said, remembering something he remembered from medieval knightly tradition that seemed appropriate. He pulled his strength back in striking her, but it clearly hurt, yet she said nothing as her head returned to its former position, and her gaze back up to him.

"Now then," he said, "Cure greater curse."

He then reached into his pocket dimension and pulled out a mirror, which he held up for her.

She held still for a moment, hardly able to believe what she'd just heard, a few words was all it took, and she was cured of her torment of years? She almost didn't want to believe it could be so easy, yet after that hesitation, she slowly reached up as hope began to grow inside her, and touched her hair, she looked again at the Sorcerer King, who nodded encouragingly. She swallowed hard, then moved her hair to one side, and for a moment, just a moment, it seemed it wasn't gone, and then she realized what it was, she wiped her face with her glove, clearing the dripped out pus away, and saw her face clearly. It had worked, her face was clean and clear as if there had never been any problem at all, she was whole. The tears fell like a spring rain and she collapsed forward with her face to the stone, the top of her head on the foot of the Sorcerer King, she froze, then clasped his foot at the ankle, and he for a moment felt deep confusion as he felt her start to lift, was she trying to topple him? But the slow way she did it, made him think otherwise, so he allowed her that, and then she placed his foot over her neck, and lowered her hands to the floor, sobbing joyfully.

The guardians, though initially surprised at what she had begun to do, saw how the motion ended, and they could not help but approve, thinking it the proper gesture of submission to a supreme one.

"My sword, my life, my everything, is yours until there is nothing left of myself to give to you, you are now just my lord, you are my god, and there is nothing you cannot ask of me, because your request, is my holy command, and the only way I will fail, is if I die before executing your will, and I will die as often as you wish me to, for as long as you'll have me." She choked out through her sobs of joy

He let the posture remain as she spoke, but it was, for him, quite awkward. He felt himself quite uncomfortable with this much emotion and the kind of submission that was uncomfortable enough from the NPCs, let alone from other humans. When she finished speaking, he removed his foot and placed it back on the floor.

"As it happens, I do have an order for you Lady Rockbruise." He said.

"Anything my lord." She said, still staring at the floor.

"I'm going to visit the empire...and a few other places, and I'd like you to be my guide and my bodyguard while I travel, the company of a famous human would be of considerable value." Ainz said.

"As my lord commands." She said firmly.

"Only one thing first." He said.

"My lord?" She asked.

"Perhaps, Lady Rockbruise, you'd like to wear your hair 'back' now." Ainz said, his noble voice conveying a degree of warmth.

She froze for a moment, then an enormous smile filled her face as she rose back up to her kneeling position and lifted it to his red glowing eyes free of fear and filled with joy. "YES my lord, I require only a moment." She said and began to adjust her hair, baring the whole of her face for the first time in years.

**AN: Well this begins the first chapter of 'The Lemurian Paradox' the title will become clear soon enough, yes I know it is short, but I'm giving you two chapters on two stories in one day, don't be greedy! :) This story won't delay 'God Rising' in the least though, God Rising will take more work, so I spend more time on revision with that one, of course if you like this story, please review it, and of course feel free to recommend any or all of my work to others. Now the hour is late, so it is off to rest for me! Expect another chapter tomorrow! :) **


	2. Lessons in Kingship

With her hair back, Leinas felt like a new woman, better than she had in hears, like a heavy weight carried for far to long had been taken off her back and thrown away, never to be seen again. She felt like she could sing, but duty to her lord preceded in importance the expression of her happiness, and when she had looked at her face again it was impossible not to smile. Ainz graciously allowed her to enjoy staring at herself for a time, supposing her years of waiting deserved at least an initial celebratory look.

"Our first visit," Ainz said, drawing her eyes to him, "will be to the Emperor, I believe he should be the first human to see you as you are now, since this is why he sent you to me. After that, we'll be walking through Arwintar and enjoying the Capitol." Ainz said, his voice eager as he imagined the joy of escaping his paperwork and having a valid excuse for it. A royal tour of his domain to raise spirits before the conflict he foresaw coming, was a fine justification.

Leinas tilted her head curiously, "Walking my lord? You will not use a carriage or a mount?"

Ainz shook his head. "The people should see their rulers, and too, they will be more comfortable speaking to my face than they ever would be speaking to me from atop a priceless mount or from within a gilded carriage. By walking among them, I may better come to know them, and the better a ruler knows his people, the more wisely he may rule over them." He said patiently.

'By the gods...no wonder he brought Jircniv under him, he understands humans so well and has calculated this so thoroughly...he belongs on that throne.' Leinas thought to herself with an awed expression.

"Besides, I am undead, do you expect my legs to get tired?" He opened his mouth in a genuine laugh for a moment, and she could not help but crack a smile of her own in response.

"No majesty, I suppose I don't." She responded with a wry smile and a sardonic voice.

"Then lets be off." Ainz said.

"Majesty...should I truly be your only protection? There are many yet who might not know your generosity or greatness and it might be that they would wish you harm and seek to carry it out while you are alone with only a single human guard." Leinas said diplomatically.

Demiurge was caught between outrage that a mere human should question his master...and agreement that she had a point when he imagined the horror of doing without the supreme one should anything happen to him.

Before he could make up his mind however, Ainz made it up for him. "I see you take your duties as a security officer very seriously, and it would be absurd of me to acknowledge you in a position of protecting me, then ignore your advice on the very thing you are tasked with doing. Sobeit, I will have several hidden guards follow me from the shadows and scout ahead for potential threats." Ainz said. "Eight edge assassins, when Leinas and I pass through the gate, follow us, and see to my security. If you find an active threat you can handle, detain it. If you find an active threat beyond you, alert me as you withdraw." Ainz gave them their instructions, and they acknowledged them with gratitude while privately vowing to prioritize the supreme one over themselves.

Ainz then opened a gate, and politely gestured with one hand to Leinas, "Proceed." And a moment later she found herself in Arwintar at the door of the palace not three feet from some shocked and terrified guards.

"Be at ease." Leinas said, "Its the Sorcerer King."

Privately she suspected they knew that...and that was just WHY they were not at ease.

When Ainz looked them over, he was pleased with their disciplined posture, he looked for almost a full minute at each of them before nodding in approval. "You guard your stations well. My royal brother is fortunate to have such good servants, I will convey my praise of you to him." He said in his noble voice, prompting stuttered expressions of gratitude. "I assume one of you will announce me to your emperor?" He asked, and the guards exchanged looks briefly before the one on the left moved, opened the door, and ran as fast as he could to the throne room.

Ainze and Leinas followed at leisurely pace, Leinas leading the way until she came to the main entrance before falling behind the Sorcerer King, and not coincidentally where the guard had urgently rushed into and announced them, kneeling before the throne. Jircniv for his part, had already stood in accordance with protocol, and descended from his throne, strode past the guard, and knelt before the Sorcerer King, who quickly bade him rise.

"Stand royal brother, it is good to see you again." Ainz said, and placed his skeletal hand on the emperor's shoulders. "You of course know Leinas," Ainz said, standing aside and gesturing to the bare faced blonde beauty as she stepped forward as he acknowledged her. Jircniv had already begun to stand, and he allowed a very small hint of a smile on his face.

"You got your wish." He said simply.

"It cost me everything, which means it cost me nothing, and it gave me everything I wanted." She said with a smile of her own. It was no secret between them or the other knights that she was the least loyal of them all, obsessed only with curing her curse and all other things and people be damned if that was what it took. However that did not preclude her from a genuine respect for her comrades in arms or for the emperor she'd served, and with her singular desire gained, this regard was able to begin to flower and bloom, as if a frozen over ground had been able to thaw at last and the seed buried within could at last breach the surface and drink in the Sun.

It was, put plainly, a warmer reunion than she had herself expected, or the emperor, though he would never admit to it to his dying day...he'd long pitied the frustrated woman, a curse deprived her of everything but her skills, and her skills could never give her what she wanted no matter how she'd tried. Jircniv was no monster...despite his reputation as the bloody emperor, he did not hold his servants in contempt, nor did he abuse them, he would expend lives, but strive to preserve them, and he was not above sympathy for those who could neither be helped nor help themselves, and Leinas Rockbruise fell into both categories at once, and was made more pitiable because of her power otherwise, rather than in spite of it. At least the powerless knew they had nothing, had clearly felt like a person constantly swimming after a lifeline that was always just out of reach to keep drowning at bay. Now she was whole.

"So what brings you to your loyal vassal's home today?" The emperor asked with a smile on his face. "I have decided to take a tour of my realm, visiting its many places to better know its people, aside from yourself I intend to meet with the priests, see the temples, speak with your military commander and the common soldiers, meet with your merchants and spend time walking among the people." Ainz said politely as he rattled off his agenda.

Jircniv's eyes went wide, "You intend to walk? Should I not prepare a carriage for you?"

Ainz laughed, "Do you also expect me to get tired?"

Jircniv did not succeed in restraining his laugh in response. "No I suppose not, but...why walk? You are the Sorcerer King, who would begrudge you a mount or a carriage?"

"None." Said the Sorcerer King with a voice harder than adamantite in its conviction. "However they would begrudge me their truths."

Jircniv looked a tad confused. "Their truths?"

"Yes," Ainz replied, "by putting myself on the same ground they walk on, they will more easily speak their minds, yes I can set myself above them symbolically by a terrifying mount such as my little lambs," several knights began to shake in terror, veterans of the battle of Katze Plains, most of them could not go near a goat or lamb without pissing themselves even to that day, "but I do not need that symbolic status, I need to know their true thoughts, and that cannot so easily be found from up high, I must get closer to them in order to know them, and in order for them to know me." Ainz said.

Jircniv bowed, "You are truly the King of Kings, I will engrave your words onto my heart. May I ask, if you will not take a carriage or a mount, will you at least take company?"

Ainz looked at him curiously, "Who did you have in mind?"

"Your loyal vassal of course." Jircniv said, "I might not be tireless as your esteemed self, but I am not so old that a walk around the streets of my city is beyond my power, and also, it might be good for them to see us together as comrades so they know my support for you is true and not going to embroil them in some bitter conflict between royals, common people rest more easily when they see kings and emperors in common peace."

"I would be glad of your company." Ainz said with a warm simplicity.

Jircniv quickly summoned several attendants and two choice guards, and with that Ainz and the Emperor walked out of the palace.

As they began to walk through the streets Ainz instructed Leinas to walk in front of them and guide them to the temples, he would follow alongside Jircniv so that the two could converse.

As they walked together following behind the once and present knight, Jircniv could not help but note that the Sorcerer King, with his height, his visage, his intimidating staff and supreme attire, made an act even as simple as walking look like just what a king should be doing. After a few short minutes of silence as they looked around, Jircniv remarked, "I've lived here all my life...but I've never seen it from the ground except for in the scantiest of moments, and then I never really saw it, I only passed through it before going indoors about some errand.

Ainz nodded, "I know what you mean royal brother, there truly is something to be said from this position, the buildings seem taller and more magnificent, the slow pace allows you to take everything in, both good and bad, and the time it takes...though longer...can be savored more fully, like slowly drinking wine rather than gulping it down."

"The perfect analogy." Jircniv said admiringly. "Seeing things from this perspective, I cannot help but see what my city lacks."

"What is that?" Ainz asked.

"Artistry. It is true our buildings architecture is quite remarkable if you will permit me my pride on the matter, but it lacks color, it lacks intricacy in the fine details. When your initiative is completed and Count Yvas **(*AN: Memory & a Message C1)** has his first year of graduates, I hope you will not object if I request their services after they have finished working on what you determine to be their expression of gratitude to you. I should like to see great frescos such as those in your book of art, to rediscover the lost techniques, our work is functional, but where are the monuments to human potential, the idealized statues that give people something to aspire to be, however impossible?" Jircniv said loftily, and Ainz had a vision of a revolution in art and architecture springing forth in the empire in the years ahead if all went well.

"It takes only the time and will to achieve, and if it is your wish, I see no reason to stand in the way of it, your greatness is my greatness, and mine is yours, such is the nature of mutually beneficial arrangements." Ainz said.

"That is something else I wondered." Jircniv began, and then paused.

"Please, speak your mind." Ainz requested.

"When you created your terms of vassalization, you made them very generous ensuring ample benefits to the empire, you didn't impose brutal terms and crush us or make us entirely dependent, despite having all the advantages necessary to do so easily between your magic and your military force. Why?" Jircniv asked.

Ainz thought for a moment, and then said curiously "I hate to answer a question with a question, but if you will forgive that, let me ask in turn...why does someone do that?"

Jircniv was just about to answer, then closed his mouth, remembering that everything Ainz did had multiple meanings and layers and motives. So he gave it very steady and enduring thought before he said, "They do that to crush resistance, to break the ability of an enemy to fight back, to enrich themselves to the greatest degree possible and enhance their power against all threats."

"An apt answer from a knowledgeable king." Ainz said, and he signaled a pause as they passed a street vendor, who froze like a statue when Ainz approached and held out a gold coin, the frozen man looked wide eyed at the impossible sum, and Ainz pointed to a single sweet treat. The man was able to act at all only through the force of routine alone, his slender frame shaking every moment, and when Ainz handed him the coin, the man was practically in tears as he scrambled to try to make change. "Do not concern yourself citizen. Tell me, do you take pride in your work?" Ainz asked the man.

He managed to find his voice enough to stammer, "My lord...my family has made sweets for three generations from this cart, I grew up at this cart, watching and learning from infancy, I put a piece of my soul into every batch I make. Yes, I stake my pride on the quality of my work."

Ainz handed the treat to Jircniv.

"Is his pride well placed?" Ainz asked the emperor.

The emperor was curious about the course of this, and driven by his curiosity he took a bite. Flavor exploded in his mouth, sweetness, tartness, a buttery warmth spread through his mouth as a warm creamed cheese flavor flowed over his tongue, when he finished the treat he said, "His pride is well placed." The peasant baker knelt immediately before the monarchs, tears in his eyes at the praise.

"I will tell every generation of children that I live to see, that you praised my work my lord. It will give them something to aspire to." The peasant said, and Ainz handed him two more gold coins.

"I will take several more of those, distribute them to the guards and attendants, one more each, including one for the emperor." Ainz said.

The baker quickly did as he was instructed, his fear had become excitement, his flurried activity one of inspiration, and the sight of the emperor enjoying something from the man's cart, brought an abundance of visitors as the monarchs walked away.

When they had proceeded a short distance away, Ainz stopped and turned around and pointed at the cart. "He will do good business now won't he?" He asked.

Jircniv was forced to agree, "And he deserves to, I will bring him to the palace often enough to make the whole court fat if I am not careful." He laughed with a bit of self deprecating humor.

"Now, do you think his loyalty has disappeared, decreased, or increased?" Ainz asked.

"Increased." Jircniv said.

"If we had confiscated his goods, threatened him, or otherwise ruined him, do you think you'd ever be able to tax his work? Do you think you would enjoy more such sweets?" Ainz asked.

"No, not really." Jircniv said, "He might leave for elsewhere, or he might hide, or he simply wouldn't put the effort in that he previously had and the quality would decline." He said, a slowly dawning understanding coming over him.

"Enemies are destroyed when they become friends, when two work together for mutual gain, enmity need not exist, and brotherhood grows, mutual gain and cooperation is almost always more beneficial than simple conquest. Suppose I had dispatched my army and used my magic and crushed the empire, what would be the state of this land?" Ainz asked.

"Ruined and resentful." Jircniv said with absolute certainty.

"Yet you are now a loyal vassal, your empire thrives, my wealth grows, your people prosper, are we not both better off?" Ainz asked.

"We are." Jircniv said, "I begin to understand. I could not eat the sweet twice if I destroyed its maker by taking it once by force, in the same way if you had ruined us with terrible terms, we'd be broken and resentful and in the worst case, you'd rule only ashes."

"Indeed, I prefer to gird myself with allies and friends rather than to surround myself with resentful enemies." Ainz said simply. "A heartless enterprise with a people that hate to be part of it, does not deserve to endure, I prefer a rule where people are grateful for the way they live, and desire that the world they know to endure as it is in their lifetime for a thousand thousand generations." Ainz continued.

"That is the sum and definition of a King I think, though I had never considered on mass in the way you have." Jircniv answered, "I am grateful for the lesson."

"My lord we have reached the grand temple." Leinas said, and the two looked ahead of them.

"The name befits the place." Ainz said. "Shall we go in?" He asked.

"After you my lord." Jircniv said with a bow, and with a noble step, the Undead King began to mount the steps of the temple of temples, the home of all the great gods of the empire, was about to be entered by the god of kingship.

**AN: Well I hope you found this short chapter entertaining, things ran long today so I didn't make it as long as I'd planned, but this will do for now, perhaps I can do two chapters tomorrow and get other stories advanced again. My outline for this story is complete and it will contain seven overall parts with several chapters per part, so...this may or may not be as long as Unholy Rose, however either way it won't be far off. And no 'God Rising' won't suffer for it, that one takes more time anyway and this story is something of a breather by comparison to that titanic effort, for now of course, reviews are fuel and you wouldn't want me to run out of that now...would you? ;) **

**Thanks for reading and have a great day!**


	3. What Makes a God

He stepped up to the temple door, each one bringing the world the city of Arwintar knew, closer to a revolution. It was a bright morning, and when he reached the top of the stairs a few feet from the door, he couldn't help but look back over his shoulder at the sprawling layout he'd left behind. Ascending the stairs behind him were the Emperor, Leinas, and their retinue, but also at a somewhat greater distance were considerable numbers of people, today was a day of worship so many of the citizens would soon be gathering to walk within those doors. Waiting to greet them was a single priest, one Ainz recognized as having come to his domain. The name had been given to him at the time...what had it been...what had it been? Ainz racked his brain, he'd been so focused on his acting in the role of the supreme one that he'd neglected to remember the names of those he'd not expected to encounter again, he vaguely remembered the name began with an 'S'. The priest saw him coming up the stairs and his eyes went wide with awe, his mouth dropped open as if he could not believe what they told him.

Ainz impulsively chose to wing it, "High Priest S-"

"High Priest Sudon!" The emperor said, and just as the Emperor began to speak the name in full, Ainz rushed it out, blending his identification with the Emperor's.

"udon! How good to see you again!" Ainz said, and he held out his skeletal hand with the palm down.

The emperor went red for an instant realizing he had spoken over the Sorcerer King. To himself Ainz thought, 'I must let you endure that momentary embarrassment Jircniv, better that than be embarrassed by forgetting the man's name.'

The priest knelt and pressed the skeletal fingers against his forehead in formal greeting, and Ainz genially said, "Rise good priest." Letting nobility fill his voice as he thanked his stars for the accidental foresight of giving his stats a high luck rating.

"Sorcerer King, and my emperor...what brings you to the temple...and on foot no less?" The priest said in surprise.

"My good emperor Jircniv, would you care to explain my words to your high priest, I believe your familiarity will better permit you to tailor my words to their intended meaning for your people, our people." Ainz said.

Jircniv perceived that this was the Sorcerer King's subtle way of allowing him to save face after the overlap of greetings to the priest, he felt more than a little embarrassed, he'd intended to greet the man first so that the Sorcerer King would not be flustered by having to remember figure he had met only once...only to find that Ainz Ooal Gown had remembered the man after all. He mentally shook his head, no wonder he had lost to this rival.

"Of course my lord." Jircniv replied, "My lord has said that we must see the people at their own level, move among them as they move, at least some of the time, that we may better know the world as they know it, and allow them to come to us as they would to a trusted advisor, he has said that the high mount and expensive carriage put an impossible chasm between us and they that trust will never breach, so we must make the first step from on high and walk among them." Jircniv said, putting the voice of authority into every enunciated word.

The priest's eyes went wide as he took them both in. "We are blessed to have such rulers over us, to bring the dawning of a golden age." He said sincerely.

"As to what we do here," Ainz said, "I am taking a tour of my lands in a time of peace, tumultuous times lay ahead, and to guide the way through it I must know how others see their lives in the present. The more I know of my people, the better I can protect and provide for them."

"I understand, your majesty." Sudon said. "How may we of the temples of the old gods help you in this?" He asked.

"First, why don't we go inside, it might be best not to have such involved conversations on the public stairs." Ainz said politely.

"Of course majesty, please allow me to show you to the inner sanctum." He said, and he opened the door and lead the hated undead into the sacred hall of the gods, as he passed a younger priest he quickly instructed the man to remain at the door to welcome visitors, and seeing the undead king and their emperor together inside the sacred hall...well he was not one to argue the instruction under those conditions.

Ainz looked around, it was not the luxurious appointments of Nazarick, but the workmanship showed care, the pews were all of dark wood and the stained glass had been well made, the interior was clean and red carpet that rolled down the stone center aisle was clear of debris or stains. It reminded him of the churches of his own world. The priest lead them to the back of the great room, and he opened a door that lead into a smaller conference area. There was a small round table large enough for eight people and several chairs along the wall, Ainz and the emperor sat beside one another at two seemingly random chairs. "My lords had I known you were coming I would have summoned the others, but if I can make your wait more comfortable, please allow me to offer you some refreshments."

"I am content." Jircniv said.

Ainz looked at Sudon for a very long moment, before the man shook his head, "Of course...your majesty is undead, I forget myself. My apologies." He said with a slight laugh at his own folly, a laugh Ainz deigned to share.

With a gesture, Ainz dismissed the man and two of the most powerful rulers in the known world sat beside one another in amiable silence for awhile before Jircniv looked to his left at Ainz and asked, "My lord, what do you hope to gain from the priests with this meeting?"

"Knowledge." Ainz said firmly. While much of the time Ainz had spent in the new world had been taken up with 'faking' his way through lordship and the like, one thing he knew beyond any question, was that knowledge was vital, he began to explain as much to Jircniv.

"The Synod may be a year away, perhaps more if it is delayed, however time passes more quickly than we realize, it creeps up on us, always seeming so distant that we do nothing to prepare for the events it carries on its back...then it is here, upon us, and there is no more time to prepare. So by gaining knowledge of the temple's positions and settling where we stand with one another, we will better know our footing when the time arrives." Ainz replied.

"I...see." Jircniv said. "That is wise. He thought back to the day at the arena when Ainz caught him meeting witht he Slane Theocracy and asked, 'Friends of yours?" and with three words captured an empire and robbed it of the only allies it could acquire. It was the true beginning of his surrender against the monster he now no longer saw as being a monster. This moment...was one of those, a moment of insight into the way his undead lord thought, a glimpse into the secret of his limitless power. He remembered the priest's name despite only meeting him once, and the shock on his face at being remembered had been of the favorable sort, he had won the baker over and may have spawned a dining empire with a few choice words of praise and an expression of confidence, he had turned a simple stroll...a stroll, one foot in front of the other, to a virtual parade of eyes. Jircniv had ridden in a carriage many times and except for a glance, never truly been seen, but by being on foot, he was in the forefront of every gaze...this simple change had given him the eyes of his people, he would not forget it.

"May I ask a question my lord?" Jircniv asked, "It is...personal, so I must count on your forgiveness if you refuse it." Ainz looked at him, Jircniv's face was conflicted, the mask of blandness that he wore was cracked, the Sorcerer King felt intrigue rise within him.

"Please do." He replied.

"My lord...are you actually a god, like the four or the six?" Jircniv asked directly.

"Yes we would much like that answer as well?" The eldest of the priests...who was looking right spry as if he'd lost fifty years of life, which of course he had after drinking the wine of Idun's apples **(*AN: Memory & A Message C2)**, said with a rather contented expression considering the gravity of his question, as one by one the priests filtered in and stood behind chairs. They did not look to the emperor for permission to sit, rather they looked to the emperor's own lord. Ainz stood in greeting, prompting a sudden surprised standing motion from Jircniv as he tried to catch up...a state which he thought in that moment, would just never change.

When Ainz stood, the expressions of the priests were no less surprised. "You stand for us?" They asked.

Ainz felt himself panic in his own mind, his years as an office worker and culture of his homeland had made it routine to stand for elders, and he had done so without thinking, he quickly spat out the first thing he could think of. "This is your office, this is your time, time for me is an endless road, but you who have only a brief moment in that endless road, who give some part of it to myself, offer much simply by offering any. The scarcity of breath in your lives makes offering it up all the more valuable. Who after all, has truly given more? The one who has a fortune and gives half of it away, or the one who has only a single coin, but gives it up willingly?"

This gave them substantial pause, stunning them into silence.

"A lord who offers no regard to his subordinates, does not merit it in return." He added, "Now please, sit, and let us begin."

They did, sharing glances at one another as Ainz and Jircniv sat, each in turn, Ainz was the last of them to be seated, and his act...simple as it was, threw them all for a mental loop, the rigors of noble conduct and manner were upended and remade in the vision of the Sorcerer King, and to the priests who had seen how the weak had to bow and scrape for an eye from their more wealthy betters, saw these changes favorably.

"Now, Jircniv has already asked this question, but before it is answered, I would like you to ask it as well, priests of the Old Gods." Ainz said, placing his hands one atop the other, the bone white reflected off of a stone of perpetual light, his seating choice had given him an unusual effect, based on the placement of two lights, he seemed to glow with holy light against the whiteness of his bones, an undead angel, they could not turn their eyes away.

"Are...you...a god?" Sudon asked softly, half expecting the answer to be yes.

The silence hung in the air, and the balance of the world with it.

"Tell me," he began to ask, "when did your gods, any of them, call themselves gods? I have often heard them termed as such, and the things they do were...a little impressive, if not excessively so, but when did they themselves make the claim?"

"...They...never actually did." Sudon replied, "It simply was so clearly obvious...what else could they be?"

Ainz released his staff, allowing it to float and rotate beside him. "Do you see those jewels within the snake's mouths?" He asked.

They nodded.

"I and my comrades, my precious friends, gained those stones by killing beings like the ones you call gods. Nor were there only six, I and my companions were forty-one together, and our greatest achievement was to kill over one thousand five hundred of those in one battle. I have gathered the stories of your gods since I walked out of my tomb, and at best I estimate that their peak of power was no more than two thirds of my own if I held myself back enough to make it at least interesting to fight them all at once. Of course I cannot know if they withheld abilities from the mortal followers they had, but if they did not do so, they were no match for me."

Jircniv felt himself to be the only one at the table who took this news in stride. The priests had been to his realm, the priests sat with him at the table, the priests had read the reports, but Jircniv had spent more time with Ainz Ooal Gown than any other mortal that he knew of...except perhaps the woman who had served as his squire. He suppressed a laugh, he wondered how much she and he would have in common, given their diverse experiences with the Sorcerer King. He vowed at some point, he would make the time to meet her.

Ainz continued to speak, ignoring their awe at his claims.

"I do come from the same realm as your gods, I know the items the Slane Theocracy has, because those items came from my realm, from the weakest of their treasures, to their most powerful, and incidentally with the exception of only two or three of them...their greatest treasures are not very impressive at all. Their gods were unlikely to be much worthy of mention to I and my companions. But let me ask you this...is it power alone that makes a god?"

Their silence had shifted from being stunned to being reflective.

"If it is power that makes a god, I am the most powerful being in the known world, then yes, I am a god. But would that not have made the dragons into gods before me? Yet they were not worshiped were they? Is it enough to have the power to shape the world? Is it limitless wisdom? Is it coming from the same realm as that of the Old Gods, that also makes me a god?" Ainz asked.

"I suppose it was foolish to hope for a simple yes or no...wasn't it?" Sudon said wryly.

"Yes." Jircniv answered flatly, "Yes it was. But pay a mind to him, and you will understand."

"I tell you gentlemen in the simplest terms, if to you a god is one from the same realm as the old gods, I am, it is to be supremely powerful, then I am, if it is to have the power to decide justice for the world, then I am, but I say 'god' is more than that, the word 'god' is a symbol of significance. It is one of meaning. Among the merchants I am now referred to as the god of prosperity and commerce, to the adventurers I am the god of adventure and courage, to the demihumans I am the god of battle, to the students of magic, including Fluder, I am the god of magic. I am a symbol to them, just as the king is the symbol of his nation, so is a god a symbol for the depths of human meaning and significance and desire and dreams. If I am to be called a god, then I say let it be for that, so that those who serve me may do so by following that which means most to themselves, all acts of virtue and betterment will be my sacraments, and hands will not be clasped in prayer, they will be held out to raise those who fall."

Ainz sighed heavily as he held them spellbound.

"I will not make your choice for you, I do not care if you declare me to be the father of Surshana, or Surshana reborn, or a whole new entity, these are trivial distinctions to me of such that it is better that they go unanswered so that people focus on what truly matters, too, there is a value in mystery. However I will tell you that yes, I come from the same realm as your other gods, I am more powerful than they, likely several times over, and that the entities you refer to as gods, were the sorts I and my friends hunted for sport, though we never met your four or six. Declare me a god if you will, but know that if you do, temples to me will spring up, I cannot swear that the current gods will remain worshiped, though I can promise not to break such temples as long as they remain peaceful, my temples will never charge for healing..." Ainz paused, seemingly for a breath, but in reality to spare a moment's thought to the abuse of his mother, how the poor woman had suffered to provide anything for him, how she'd struggled at her work and been victimized by her boss until she'd gone to an early grave...no...that system would never exist in this world.

"...and it will not charge people to secure their lives. If you come over to me, your temples will become truly servants of the people."

"We...thank you...truly your Majesty." Sudon said softly.

"I see no need to wait for the rest of my brothers, I declare for you now." Sudon said fervently.

"And I."

"And I."

"And I."

Each of the chief priests said in turn. "If any of our subordinates reject our decision, what shall we do sire?" Sudon asked.

"Allow them to worship as they wish, even permit them to buy land and build a new temple in the city." Ainz shrugged.

"My lord would that not be permitting dissent?" Jircniv asked in surprise.

Ainz nodded, "It would. But what of it? If I am truly a god, then the mere fact that a few mortals do not worship me should be no cause for wrath, the Old Gods, be they here or gone, were never a threat to me in the first place, and if I had to compel the worship of any who choose to reject me, then either I do not deserve it for being so petty, or I will not deserve it because I am violating the very conscience of a man. If any choose not to follow me, do not harm them, however, only permit capture if the person is caught lying, I will not suffer libel or slander that would drive others from me." Ainz said, further elaborating.

"And when the Synod arrives...what will we do if it comes to fighting?" Sudon asked.

"Pity the ones on the wrong side...for what little time they have left to them." Ainz said flatly, sending a shivver down their spines.

**AN: Well that was fun and I hope you liked it. :) Of course reviews reviews reviews and also reviews, yes I need them, gimmie! :) Anyway, this puts at least part of a lot still to go with this one, but I'm enjoying it and hope you are as well. :) Till next chapter...which is tomorrow, yes.**


	4. Echo of the Past (Fixed)

The remainder of the meeting was spent on minor theological matters before Ainz reached into his pocket dimension and pulled out a book, "This is the sacred text of my temples, you are in fact the first to receive a copy, I grant this to you because you are also some of the few humans to see my home, and you are among the best educated humans I have yet to meet. If you are going to argue for me, or against me to your fellow priests during the Synod, you should know what it is you argue over." Ainz said simply, then he placed the book on the table, and slid it across with both skeletal hands.

Sudon took the book gingerly with both hands and slid it closer to himself. "Majesty I can only promise that we will read this with the most sincere of motivations, more than that I beg you not to ask."

"More than that, nobody could ask, not even a god, and still remain just." Ainz said, his noble voice echoing against the walls. "I will take my leave of you gentlemen, there is more of the city I would see. Leinas, Emperor Jircniv, we should go. These men have much to discuss." As he stood, so too did the priests, and they bowed to him, then held that bow until the last of the party left the room.

When the door closed behind Ainz, the shaking started.

"If he's not a god...I don't know what is." Sudon said. "Did you FEEL that? The things he said, the way he said them, the way he carried himself, he must be truly ancient to have developed such an air about himself."

"True..." his colleague said, "But more than that, his wisdom...he has given deep thought to things that we had never considered...he is an ocean of wisdom, and we but mere puddles wishing to be oceans."

There were heavy sighs of agreement. "But," Sudon noted, "He has given us only one copy, the only true solution then is for us to read it together...which perhaps was his intent, that we read and learn together as one. Truly his thoughts are so far beyond our ken that we can only comprehend them in retrospect."

"Then," another priest replied, "We should begin immediately, just let a junior priest be made aware that they will conduct ceremonies today."

There was agreement all around at that, and one man went out to do that, as the rest settled in and waited, staring down at the book and waiting eagerly to open it.

As Ainz walked out of the temple, he cursed himself for forgetting to have more than one copy of the book delivered to him. 'I suppose my luck stat can't give me a 100% success rate...' He thought to himself.

"Where to now, my lord?" Leinas asked as they descended the stairs.

"I believe its time to visit the Arena...as a spectator this time, rather than as a participant." Ainz replied. "How does that sound to you, Emperor Jircniv?" Ainz asked.

"Enjoyable." Jircniv answered, "I believe Osk will be in attendance, if your majesty would care to give your greetings to the man."

Ainz could not truly smile, but after years of coming and going before him, Jircniv had developed a sense of the aura of Ainz Ooal Gown, and knew when the Sorcerer King was pleased with an idea, his sense did not fail him today, as Ainz replied, "I would find that pleasing."

The walk to the Arena was not especially short, however nor was it overly long, and the massive arena was viewable from most places in the capitol. This meant that even without Leinas and Jircniv along to guide him, Ainz would have had no trouble finding it. As they took their time on the walk, Jircniv relaxed to enjoy this unusual perspective on his capitol, the people looked strong and vigorous, the merchants along the streets were prosperous, it seemed to Jircniv that his vision for the empire's future prosperity was coming true.

Then something spoiled that pleasant moment, Ainz stopped cold and looked ahead across the street, a baker struck a child hard across the face and yanked something out of her hand, the child was a young girl with dirty blonde hair and wearing filthy clothes that might once have been very nice, she fell hard on her backside and before she could scramble away, the baker set aside the bread had come out and grabbed her unkempt hair and made to hit her again. Jircniv could feel the aura change in the Sorcerer King, he felt an oppressive weight come down on him, and found he had difficulty breathing, nor was he alone in this, others on the street, including Leinas and his own attendants, felt the same sudden crushing weight driving them down. It cut off almost as quickly as it had appeared, but the Sorcerer King was clearly angry.

What Jircniv did not know, was that running through Ainz's mind was a memory of being out with his mother and watching her getting hit...hard, because the young Suzuki Satoru had taken a piece of bread in a shop when he'd been hungry. Anything that reminded him of his mother's abuse and the way she suffered, drove him into a rage that made him at once annoyed with and grateful for his emotional dampener. He diverted course and approached the now sweating baker and the weeping child without alerting Leinas or the emperor of his intent, forcing them to rush to catch up with him as he planted himself behind the two young girls. As he neared them, he got a closer look, she was clearly young, not quite a teenager, what people in his world had called 'tweens', and though her eyes closed as she braced for the blow, when it did not come, she slowly opened them and saw the baker's terrified expression. The man held his grip on her hair and kept his hand high as if about to bring it down, but he didn't. She struggled to twist her head to look at what had given him pause, but he held her so close to the scalp that all she could see was a part of an impressively expensive looking robe.

Ainz said only one thing. "What has she done?" His voice was calm, tranquil as a still lake, but it was the voice of death made manifest in the world.

The man didn't answer, his mouth opened, but no sound came out.

"What...has...she...done?" Ainz asked again.

The emperor caught up to him, and the baker managed to move his eyes back and forth between two of the most powerful figures in the world he knew, and began to stutter and stumble over his words.

"S-she's a-a th-thief...t-t-tried to ta-take this." He said and pointed to a loaf of bread.

Ainz pulled out a coin and put it on the counter, it was worth several dozen loaves at least. "She's paid for it now, and another one besides, and so have the next customers until that coin's worth has been traded in full. You will not cheat me of my generosity I trust, since you loathe stealing so?" Ainz looked at him with glowing red eyes, and the baker slowly released his hold on the girl's hair.

"It is as your majesty says." The baker rushed the sentence out almost to fast to follow and then shrank back and returned behind the counter.

Ainz looked down at the girl, who now that she was free of the painful grip, was turning to look up at her savior, and she froze the way the baker had.

"How old are you?" Ainz asked the girl.

Perhaps left more bold by the rough life on the streets, she answered with easier clarity than the baker had, and she replied, "I don't really know, time lost all meaning when I was sold into slavery, perhaps a year passed, perhaps two or three or four beyond when my birthday last mattered...sire." She said softly.

Ainz looked at Jircniv, "Was slavery not banned?"

Jircniv nodded firmly. "It absolutely was, so she must have been sold before that."

"It was a long time ago when I was sold." She said from the ground, "I was much smaller than I am now."

Jircniv felt a flash of gratitude to the girl, it would not have been good for Ainz Ooal Gown to think that Jircniv had ignored his edict on slavery.

"I escaped before...see...my sister and I were sold into slavery because of our parents debts, not long after our older sister disappeared, we ended up on a farm. The overseer was cruel, and we worked and worked, until at last we collapsed and couldn't get up. The overseer thought we were dead, so he threw us both, my sister and I, into a hole and left us to rot. He was only right about one of us though...he carried my sister's body over his shoulder, but me he dragged by my clothing, otherwise he might have known I was still alive. I guess I was the lucky one. I thought I was going to die in there, but I wasn't and I didn't. When I had the strength to move, I tried to wake my sister. She never woke up though, she's still there in that hole I assume." Her eyes filled with tears, but she tried to continue, "When I realized she was dead, I wanted to be too...but I realized then nobody would remember her at all, she'd just be a dead girl in a hole, and I couldn't let that happen...but, I still couldn't get out of the hole, it was too deep, I had to wait until they threw more bodies down so I could stand on them. I guess I got lucky twice, because several slaves apparently got sick and died and were thrown into the pit the next day. I managed to get up on top of the now higher pile, and climb out, then I ran and ran, and I've lived on the streets here ever since."

"Why here?" Ainz asked curiously, "Wouldn't it have been easier to go to an orphanage somewhere along the way?"

"I wanted to kill my parents." The girl said bluntly. "They sold my sister and I like objects to pay their own debts, and the debts they had...I remember my sister yelling at them about it, they were nobles who lost their place, but they still spent money and they expected our big sister to pay for everything, then she disappeared, but she wouldn't have disappeared...she wouldn't have been out there adventuring for coin, if it weren't for their reckless neglect of their responsibilities. I assume our older sister is dead now, but I wanted to make them pay."

"Did you?" Ainz asked. The baker, who had shrunk back before, had been unable to avoid hearing the story and he began to sympathize with the girl, looking at her as if he'd seen her for the first time, and noticing her pitiable state. He looked at the hand he'd hit her with, and he began to hate it as he continued to listen.

"No...they were already gone and the house was sold, I don't know where they are, hopefully in a gutter or a mass grave somewhere. I never did find them, but now what else am I to do? Nobody hires girls my age for anything but...well..." She looked aside unable to look at any male, giving away her meaning, "I'm not a noblewoman anymore, but I'd rather starve than come to that. The orphanages are barely livable even if they do have space, and its not like I know the emperor and can bring that problem to his attention. Even if I could enter the palace without getting killed for dirtying a rug, Who listens to dirty homeless peasant children wearing the mocking rags made from the cut up and restitched material of their once fine things?" She actually laughed at herself. She threw back her head and laughed as tears of pain ran down her face.

The baker had been watching all this, and felt a swelling of pity for the girl, who he now noticed was absurdly thin for her age, she was half the weight a girl her age should have been and clearly malnourished, quietly he promised himself he'd look more closely at people in the future before assuming greed instead of desperation, he reached down and took out another loaf of bread, and held it in a shaking hand over the counter. "H-here." He managed to stumble out. "I'm sorry for hurting you...I didn't...didn't see." He said.

The girl took it in surprise, unable to say anything, she nodded swiftly several times as the gesture snapped her back to the present.

Ainz looked over to Jircniv. "Would you have seen this from within the closed off walls of a carriage?" The emperor shook his head.

"The value of walking the streets on occasion is not lost on me now sire." Jircniv replied, somewhat chastened, "I can say with certainty that the subject of these orphanages conditions will be brought to the interior minister's attention immediately, and hard questions will be asked about why they are in such a sorry state that starving on the street is preferable. He'd better have good answers. Also...perhaps it would be a good idea to permit commoners to petition before the throne, at least periodically, so that I can hear from the people themselves what troubles their lives."

He sensed Ainz was very pleased with his answer, and then it occurred to him..."My lord...those reforms were your plan for me the entire time...weren't they? You just wanted me to come up with them myself?"

Ainz groaned internally, but he chose to wing it, "You have seen through my plan." He said, putting a note of pride into his voice, "You are not the emperor without good reason it seems."

"But...how could you know this girl would be here?" He asked in shock.

"I didn't, however I knew that if these reforms were necessary, an example would present itself, and it has." He said, thanking his luck stat that the emperor didn't ask his advice on what should be done, but had instead come up with a solution on his own and then simply handed the credit over by his own initiative.

Jircniv shook his head, a feeling of shame came over him as his empire's troubled side was laid open to his superior, and he resolved to tear the interior minister a new asshole for allowing a problem like this to grow and fester enough that the Sorcerer King saw it before him.

The girl blinked as she turned from one face to the next. "You're...the emperor?" She asked in awe.

"I am." He said, and continued, "I am sorry that my throne failed you so greatly, I will ensure that conditions are improved, but is there anything else I can do to make it up to you?" He asked, reaching out and touching the girl's dirty hair softly.

"Give my sister a good burial, and take the head of the overseer who threw us in that pit." She said softly. "I would also beg for you to kill my parents...but it is probably to late for that."

"It will be done." The emperor said, and called for one of his attendants, the girl quickly spilled out all the information she had, where she'd been taken to, roughly where the farm was located, what the overseer looked like, and so on, when the information had been written down, Jircniv sent that attendant back to the palace to see to the keeping of his promise.

Ainz approved of those measures, but what of the girl? He thought for a moment. "What is your name?" He asked her.

"Kuuderika, sire." The girl said softly.

"You have had little luck here, so why not come to my realm? I will allow you to stay with one of my commanders and her husband, they live in a nice place called Carne Village, you will get a good education and then do as you wish with your life when you are grown." Ainz said...sounding kinder than his skeletal face looked.

The girl thought for a moment, and then said, "Thank you...may I eat the bread now though...I haven't eaten in two days?"

"Please do." Ainz said and he looked back over to Jircniv. "I assume you have no objection to her leaving with me?"

Jircniv shook his head, "No, I do not. If a country fails a citizen, it cannot complain if that citizen wishes to go elsewhere. Take her with my blessing, and gratitude in doing what my country did not. Shall I have another attendant take her to the palace to await your return there? He asked."

"Yes, and please ensure that she is also allowed to eat, bathe, and dress in something new as well." Ainz added.

Jircniv called up another attendant, "You heard the Sorcerer King, see that it is done, then send two more attendants to meet me at the arena, and ensure they have the means to take notes, there may be much more to write about before the day is done"

The attendant touched the girl's shoulder, and she stood, still clutching the bread like it was a lifeline and she was drowning, she bowed deeply as she backed away, until she had gone some distance, then she turned and walked beside the attendant, taking enormous bites out of the crackling fresh loaf in one hand, while holding the other under her arm...Ainz was quite sure she would finish both long before she reached the palace.

The baker for his part, looked deeply ashamed, and bowed to the two rulers as they turned to look at him again, as if waiting for him to speak. "Your majesties have taught me something today, and I will not forget the lesson." He held his bow until the two silent rulers began to walk away, returning to their course towards the arena.

**AN: For those who will inevitably say it...yes I KNOW in canon it is said that both twin sisters of Arche died from overwork after being sold into slavery. But I thought this was more interesting so I broke canon anyway and allowed one to manage to survive. Personally I think that if the original author of the series saw my take on it, I think he would approve. Perhaps I'll send him a compilation of my work when it is finished...well...after making some edits to fix typos and the like, but hey that is for the future, for now...well I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I look forward to feasting on your reviews, don't let me starve to death. Updates WILL slow down just a little bit though. I'm afraid I injured a finger while playing basketball, its not broken...I don't think, but it hurts like hell. Fortunately it is not my middle finger, I need that one, I use it a lot. But it is my pointer finger, and that is almost as bad and almost as regularly used, soooo...just be patient for a bit while it heals up.**


	5. Day's End

"Everyone has their story, don't they?" Jircniv said as they walked away.

"They do." Ainz said, "And to know them is to rule them well, and the way to know them is to speak with them, to listen to them, and here we are." He added politely.

Jircniv reflected that, contrary to his expectations years ago, he was now enjoying the company of the unfathomable undead king.

Arriving at the Arena brought back mixed feelings for Emperor Jircniv, it was the site of his greatest defeat, the place where the Sorcerer King had broken his ability to resist, and won the empire without a drop of blood being shed. In the moment at that time he had hated that defeat more than anything else in his life. But with the reflection of time and increased experience with the undead monarch his view had changed, he'd come to see the way the Sorcerer King had defeated him in a more noble, even merciful light. He could have done any number of terrible things, but instead he not only captured the empire whole and intact, he kept Jircniv on the throne despite the plots laid by the emperor against him. So...the mixed feelings were more personal, like visiting a place where a person had experienced an embarrassing accident. On the other hand, in a way it had also been his greatest triumph, by yielding to the Sorcerer King first the Empire had been the first to gain the benefits of their relationship. While the Re-Estize Kingdom suffered enormous losses and inner turmoil as a result of resisting, and continued to maintain their independence nominally while being dependent on a lopsided trading relationship with the Sorcerer King...who was simply bleeding them of talent and gold while they had nothing to show for themselves except continued and ever increasing weakness. Surrender it seemed, had given Jircniv more power than any victory ever could have.

His train of thought was interrupted when he saw Osk standing at the great entryway. The man first saw Leinas and his eyes went wide, then the emperor, and his expression became bright, and then he saw the Sorcerer King, and he immediately knelt as they trio and the entourage approached. Jircniv couldn't help but think his reactions were all perfectly appropriate.

As they came near, Osk spoke up. "Your majesties, it is an honor to have you at our humble arena today."

"I'm sure it will be worth every minute, as it always is." Jircniv said, but he did not give the man permission to rise, as he thought back to his defeat here.

"Yes, well worth every minute." Ainz said, thinking about how much he'd enjoyed fighting Go Gin there before, while Jircniv for his part, assumed Ainz was referring to their own royal battle, and his own personal defeat by the Sorcerer King.

"Please, rise." Ainz said, and Osk slowly stood. "Will you join us today, or must business take you elsewhere?" He asked the portly manager.

Osk beamed. "If your majesties would have me, then it would be my honor to join you."

"Then do so." Ainz said, "There is something I would have of you."

Osk looked curious, while Jircniv kept his face neutral. "Shall I lead the way majesties?" Osk asked, and Ainz gestured for him to do so.

When they arrived at the royal box seating, the announcer was already naming the combatants, two minor figures little known to the empire and not known at all to Ainz, but nonetheless for several minutes the two rulers watched the unknown figures give their all against one another.

"What do you think of their abilities Leinas?" Ainz said, looking at the formidable knight.

"Majesty they are undisciplined young men, their swings are wild and uncoordinated, a more experienced opponent would best either or both in moments...but there is potential there." She said.

Osk nodded in agreement. "Exactly so." He said, "You have a keen eye my lady. They are very raw recruits who have only recently come to us, this is only their fourth match." He looked over to Ainz and said, "Majesty the last time you came to me you allowed me to fulfill a promise I had left unfulfilled for far to long, you put on a show such that the empire has never seen it before or since, and you created a revolutionary adventurers guild structure that has seen lives saved and dreams fulfilled, if Pluton Ainzach has been exaggerating a hundred times over, you've still done things we had not dreamt of before...now you are here again. I beg of you sire, don't keep me waiting in suspense."

Jircniv restrained the urge to ask a similar question, but he too, looked to Ainz.

The Sorcerer King stayed silent for a moment and then said..."I need you to manage an arena for me."

"I'm sorry sire, I'm sure I didn't hear you." Osk said.

"I said, I need you to manage an arena for me." Ainz said again.

"What arena?" Osk asked in confusion, "If there had been an arena built in E-Rantel or in Carne or anywhere else your noble self rules, I would surely have heard about it by now."

"I haven't built it yet." Ainz said. "I will be building it when I visit Carne Village."

"Aren't you bringing this to me a little early sire?" Osk asked, his confusion clearly not abated. "And wouldn't a younger man be better suited, I am every bit the age I appear to be, this arena took many years to build, and I'll be in retirement long before one like it can be finished."

"Are you retiring in the next week?" Ainz asked blandly.

That left blank stares on the faces of all those present.

"I should clarify, when I say 'build' I mean 'create' I will 'create' an arena when I go to Carne, one suitable for holding roughly ninety-thousand spectators. I want you to manage it, or at least train a suitable party for the task."

Silence greeted his statement.

"H-How long will it take?" Osk asked softly.

"A few hours or so for the dwarves to ensure the area is roped off and nobody can disturb the process, then I will cast a spell, and it will exist." Ainz replied flatly, as if he were describing the weather.

"Wha..." Jircniv began, but he paused when Ainz continued to speak.

"The adventurers guild has grown much as people have entered the system, however they train in isolation...which does not diminish their power...but I wish to take things in a new direction, men and women of great courage, valor, and skill, should gain the reputations they deserve more readily, and too, there is a cost to drawing untrained persons in to the system only to find that they are unsuitable. I will create a series of arenas around the lands I rule, and those who wish to become adventurers will first prove themselves there, with opportunities in the adventurers guild being granted to those who perform well in the arenas. I will license individuals to sponsor competitors and contests for entertainment, which I will tax, and I will use them to commemorate great events and to promote martial virtue and a competitive spirit between cities and provinces of the Sorcerous Kingdom. Too, such events can serve as an opportunity for international competition."

"International competition?" Jircniv asked.

"Yes." Ainz said. "Many thousands of years ago, there was a great contest between the many city states of man, it was called 'The Olympics' all wars were halted for this, and the athletes of cities great and small would gather in contests of boxing, sprinting, chariot racing, wrestling, and more. I would recreate this great tradition, and invite all nations and all adventurer teams to come to my nation in this year, and every fourth year thereafter, in celebration of excellence, international cooperation, and competitive spirit. Each competing nation will send a runner bearing a lit torch from their capitol, from one city to the next, relaying it from place to place, passing the lit flame of their people, all the way to a single place in the arena, they will then enter together, light the flame together, and ignite the games in peace, setting aside even enmity for a time to compete with honor to show their people's greatness."

Jircniv swallowed at the thought, he imagined how it would look as if already seeing the great artists of nations human and inhuman, sending out their best, taking the long road and...he couldn't even picture an arena that big, it was easily much larger than his own...he percieved that these smaller arenas around the growing rule of the Sorcerous Kingdom would become places to compete for a spot in such games. It looked marvelous even in his imagination, it didn't take a creative genius to imagine what was running through Osk's mind, he could see the man practically salivating over the opportunity.

"Your majesty I accept, I can appoint a ready replacement here, I have many capable subbordinates, and I will make myself ready to leave in a matter of days." Osk said, wiping the drool from the corners of his mouth as he snapped back to reality and answered as fast as the words could spill from his lips. "Ninety-thousand people...by the gods..." He shook his head as if he could barely believe it.

Ainz turned back to watch the completion of the contest, it had ended with one man falling hard on his back, and the other with a sword to his throat. A victory, but as Ainz had increased his own ability, he'd come to recognize that it was not a clean or skillful one on the part of the winner here.

Other contests came and went, but Osk paid no mind to them, his mind was filled with visions of the Great Arena of Carne, the largest in the world, and the glorious contests it would see in his lifetime.

Jircniv thought he should have felt some twinge of resentment, but to his own surprise he didn't, the visions of the future that Ainz had shared with him had stilled his animosity, his frustration, and his resistence, it had made him now a fierce ally of the Sorcerer King, who saw the vision the undead figure had for the world, and found it worth pursuing. His duty his nation had become a duty to obey in order to secure for his nation the finest future they could have.

The remainder of the day at the arena was spent with Ainz explaining the workings of the Olympics, the ceremony awarding medals to those who finished in the top three positions, and the immortal etching of the victors names and nations into history, names Ainz still had recorded in the Library of Ashurbanipal. Immortal fame alone would drive many to extremes, and nations and kings would do much for pride, he could imagine such glory being impossible to resist, with Adamantite teams of adventurers, workers, mercenaries, and so on, coming together for the privilege of representing their homes and winning names that would never be forgotten.

When the last contest was over, they stood up, and Osk knelt to the Sorcerer King. "With your majesty's permission, I will depart immediately and settle affairs here."

"You may. Come to the palace by the end of the week, if you are not there when it has come time for me to go, I will assume you have changed your mind." Ainz said.

Osk shook his head, "Majesty if I am not there, send a search party, because I am either kidnapped or dead, as I would not ever miss this opportunity by choice." He said with a laugh, prompting a laugh from Jircniv, Leinas, and the attendants to the emperor, Ainz himself let his jaw fall open and laugh in a low sort of way.

"I will keep that in mind." He said dryly.

"Where would you like to go now your majesty?" Jircniv asked.

"We will return to your palace for now, but tomorrow we meet your nobles, your military command, and I'd like to see how Yvas is doing with his school. Then as per noble protocol I suppose we can have a few ceremonies and banquets for a few days, then after that I go to Carne. If you wish to come with me, you may. I can send you back after I have created the arena, or you may remain behind." Ainz said with a shrug, "I leave that choice to you."

It wasn't even a question in Jircniv's mind, this was something he had to see. "I would very much like to go, it would be an honor and a privilege to be the first to see the Great Arena of Carne."

When they returned to the palace, the emperor offered the Sorcerer King quarters for the night, and he accepted politely, despite not needing rest himself, and Jircniv bade him goodnight and went to bed, however he did not sleep, instead he first summoned his minister of the interior. The man had been asleep already, but Jircniv ordered his immediate presence in the throne room. The man arrived still dressed in his night clothes and knelt before the throne.

"Can you explain your ineptitude?" He asked the fearful man.

The minister of the interior was a thin, almost wraithlike figure with beady eyes and a balding head, he was probably the ugliest of all the ministers in Jircniv's service, but he had also been at the helm since the time of Jircniv's father, it was this longevity that prompted Jircniv to let him explain himself, but the man was only more confused.

"I do not understand, your majesty." The man said.

"Today while I was out with the Sorcerer King...you know him, the man who by himself could destroy every single person in our army with a single spell and still have power to spare, if he so chose...and we found evidence of incredible failure on your part...or rather...HE did. And HE is not happy, which means "I" am not happy." Jircniv replied with a hard eyed look at the man.

The small man seemed to shrink even smaller. "Please explain what you found majesty." He pleaded.

"A homeless girl who described her abuse as a slave, escaped after the death of her sister, ended up in a vile orphanage...you know...one of those institutions YOU are resonsible for handling, and it was so very bad that she preferred to run away and starve to death in our capitol rather than grow up there. The Sorcerer King found her being beaten by a merchant and got her story out of her...in front of me. Now...explain why these orphanages are that bad. Explain how the ministry of the interior, which was responsible for the resettlement of former slaves, has ended up failing so badly that the KING OF ANOTHER COUNTRY...OUR FUCKING RULER...found out about it and did so BEFORE ME?!" Jircniv stood up in a rage and the man began to shake as the bloody emperor's voice rose.

"Sire, I do the best with the budget that I have and..." He began to say, but Jircniv cut it off.

"I sit in on the budget meetings, I have YET to hear you say you were short of funds to run things well, I have not heard you propose a new idea on how to run these programs in years, if ever, I have yet to see you raise a single issue...and the result was an INTERNATIONAL EMBARASSMENT in front of the most powerful figure in the world! A fucking GOD!" Jircniv snapped. "I'm having your books audited immediately and you are confined to quarters until it is finished. If I find you've been misusing funds, you can expect your head to end up on a pike with the reason for your execution on a sign dangling from your teeth. If you have simply been lazy and inept, you will be relieved of your position but allowed to retire peacefully far from the capitol, a final show of gratitude for your long years of service under my father, before laziness took hold." Jircniv said, and called for his guards. "Remove him to a secure but comfortable chamber, and have the minister of finance informed that in the morning he is to conduct a full audit of the ministry of the interior." The guards rendered a salute and then leveled their halbards at the minister, who squeaked fearfully, but uttered no protest as he was marched out of the room.

Jircniv shook his head, thankful the Sorcerer King's view of him did not seem to diminish as a result of those events, and then he went to his bedchamber, where he summoned his favorite concubine to him. He needed her tonight, and so he began to undress while waiting for her. Some perhaps would have said that should be the work of the female in his service, yet his relationship with her was different, coming to its current status at her insistence. Because she was chosen for her her intellect, despite the fact that she was nominally there only for her body's ability to comfort him, he had a higher regard for her than others, and her looks were not those of a stunning beauty of the sort he could have had if he wished it so. She was skilled at those games played in bed, but the greatest ease he truly found with her was in their discussions afterwards when he could have her as a sounding board and and she responded with points of her own.

This night was no exception for the two of them, with limbs and bodies casting dancing shadows against the wall, they enjoyed one another a great deal before they lay back in mutual exhaustion. After a few minutes hard breathing she rolled over onto her side and rested her head on one hand, propping herself up. "You've got something on your mind, don't you Jir?" She said in the familiar way that was only permissible in private.

"A lot." He said. "The Sorcerer King arrived today."

"I heard. He seems to carry change with him the way clouds carry rain, you never know where it will fall, or how hard, or whether it will be a blessing that provides for you, or a flood that washes you away...but you know that it will fall, sooner or later." She said softly, then bit her lip..."Which was it this time?"

"Hard to say." Jircniv answered, "I admit today was...amazing in some ways, the temples will declare for him here, but he's also proposed some revolutionary measures that may vastly improve the empire, and he said them as though they were obvious. Also...today I walked...WALKED the streets of the capitol." He said with great emphasis on the word 'walked'.

She raised an eyebrow, "You've never done that before." She said in a deadpan sort of way she used when stating the obvious.

"Correct." He said as he lay back and stared at the ceiling. "Yet now I have, and it was a unique experience, I will make a habit of doing so, if not every time, then at least regularly, and I'll be allowing commoners to visit the palace, I have come to realize that I have become to remote to my people, its galling, in minutes Ainz pried a story out of a homeless girl, identified a deficiency in one aspect of my empire, and appears to have somehow exposed the ineptitude of my minister of the interior. He also revealed a hidden talent within a stone's throw of the palace and seems to have launched a revolution in deserts. Not to mention his idea for an international sporting event."

She listened intently as he rattled off the events. "He must be a genius." She said softly.

"Of the highest caliber. That or simply so long lived that he knows everything worth knowing." Jircniv replied.

"You should start planning for the sporting event now, I don't believe he had you with him by accident when he brought this up." She said thoughtfully.

"Oh?" He asked.

"Yes, he was rewarding you for all your service and work, giving you an edge to raise the finest contestants that you possibly could to represent the empire. Who knows what benefits he'll bestow to the winning nation, you must take advantage of this and prepare accordingly long before it begins."

"Yes...that does make sense, it can't be coincidence that he brought this up when I was there, he's so very subtle its easy to miss the many levels of planning that he engages in, even when they're of benefit to me. I suppose if he has a weakness, its that he thinks we're sometimes more clever than we are, and we miss what he wants us to see until someone brings it to our attention." He said as he stretched out.

"Well, I wonder what you'll see tomorrow." She said with a lewd little smile.

"I don't know, but I know what I want to see right now." He said with an equally lascivious grin, and he reached for his concubine once more, drawing a giggle from the woman before their lips pressed together.

**AN: Yes yes I know, longer chapters and all that, tough patooties, I guess I'm the literary version of a stripper on a basic cable movie, always teasing and keeping you waiting for more. ;) You'll live, trust me. In the meantime my finger still hurts like bloody hell so lets just be glad I got two of them done today, it was a busy day today so I didn't get the three done that I'd planned. Incidentally, the Arena is based on the Flavian Amphitheater, the largest one of the ancient world, holding 87,000 spectators in its time. Next chapter will close out 'Part I' of my outline for this story arc, and will reveal the meaning of the name of this story. Part II covers the changes in Carne, and I'm NOT telling you what Part III, IV, V, VI, or VII cover yet. His 'tour' of his empire will cover a fair bit of time, however the unrevealed purpose will ALSO be revealed at the end of Part I. Until then, have an Ainztastic day. :)**

**Also...I almost forgot...guest reviewers, thank you for reviewing, but please remember that when you ask questions, I have no way of answering you, and I DO answer questions through the messaging system here. :) I like interacting with readers and reviewers, but I can't do that if you don't have an account.**


	6. What's in a Name

Ainz walked out of his room the next morning and found female servant standing there as if afraid to enter.

"How long have you been out there?" Ainz asked curiously.

"A...long time sire." The maid said with her eyes downcast. Her gaze snapped up, "Please don't...don't tell the emperor I didn't come in before you were out to leave...please don't...I was just scared...I'll do anything to make up for the mistake of failing to serve well."

"Nice eyes." Ainz said to himself as he looked her over, she had the sweet sort of doe eyes that he remembered from Tsuare Ninya, a powerless being, but a kind one, that was his impression. They were the same color as his mother's. She remembered that look in her eyes too, when the store owner had hit her in the face over the food the young Suzuki had taken.

The woman looked about to faint, he'd been standing there to long as he was lost in thought, to her, it seemed as if he must be toying with or tormenting her. He tried to put on his most noble pose as he reached out to her and touched her shoulder with his skeletal hand. "Have no fear, I won't mention it to the emperor if you will not. I will treat your fear as praise for my power, and hope that on it is built a respect for my mercy." He said.

She practically wept, "Thank you sire, I promise, next time...I won't just stand outside like an idiot...I'll...I'll volunteer to see to you tomorrow so that I can make up for this failure today, if you are still here then." She said, genuine gratitude in her voice.

Ainz didn't respond to that, he simply instructed her to have Leinas meet him in the throne room, and then he walked down the hall as he contemplated the encounter. He had no idea why she was so terrified of the emperor being informed of her being outside his quarters, but as he thought more and more, ideas began to form. It could be that maid slots in the palace were highly coveted, and displeasing a powerful figure from another country, or embarrassing her own nation by her conduct, would be reason for dismissal to who knows what fate. Or she could have feared severe punishment...any sounded possible, for now he just had to pretend he understood her motivations as part of his royalty act.

He went to the throne room it was just as he was walking in from one side, that Jircniv walked in from the other.

"Good morning Jircniv," Ainz said, "I trust you slept well?" He asked.

"I had a very...worthwhile evening, my lord." Jircniv said with a bow.

"I'm very glad to hear it, by the way tomorrow if possible, I'd like to hold a feast, I intend to leave here tomorrow after finishing our last few visits, and I think it suitable to revive something of a tradition from thousands of years ago." Ainz said, playing to his 'ancient undead' role.

Jircniv raised an eyebrow, intrigue was in his eyes when he asked, "Please, could you tell me more?"

"Of course." Ainz answered.

"In ancient times, there was a mighty city called 'Rome' who every year held a feast day called the Feast of Lemuria. The purpose of this feast was to satisfy, placate, or drive away the restless dead so that the people would be untroubled by them for another year. They would undertake various rituals and when it was over, they could reast easy knowing the dead are placated. I believe...given the circumstances and what I happen to be...that reviving that tradition to mark the end of my visit to a province or a vassal or a city, would be appropriate."

Jircniv listened attentively..."But...does this not insult your majesty, as if people are grateful that you are leaving?"

Ainz laughed, "Perhaps a minor change, it will be the feast of the Lemurian Paradox, wherein the commemoration of arrival and departure are done at once, I intend to make of it a sacred festival to the new religion, and beginning it here in the capitol of my first willing vassal seems quite appropriate."

Jircniv could not help but think...'His majesty is really bad at telling jokes.' However he nodded along, "A wonderful idea your majesty, I will have the word passed immediately, but where will it be held? Here in the palace?"

Ainz shook his head, "No, let it be done in the streets of the capitol, I will provide the food from Nazarick using a gate spell, and I will augment your chefs with some of my own, and put it out that all nobles are expected to contribute to the public plenty. It will be a good time to look for skinflints, the ones who skimp on what they provide to the public either think less of your edicts, or little of the people they serve, or are suffering want and may need relief."

Jircniv blinked, "Finances as a measure of loyalty and obedience?"

"A man's actions are his character." Ainz responded, "Look at how he responds to your orders and you'll know his loyalty, look at how he treats the people, and you'll know how he sees the people."

"Always more to learn..." Jircniv said softly. "It will be done my lord. Now, where would you like to go first?" Jircniv looked at a nearby servant and nodded, the man who had been trained to focus attentively on everything in the throne room, immediately rushed to inform everybody he needed to tell, while Jircniv and Ainz walked towards the entrance to the palace.

"To see Count Yvas, I'd like to see his school now, then when we return I'd like to see the rest of the nobles of the capitol and your military command in a council meeting." Ainz said, just as Leinas was arriving in the room.

"It will be done sire." Jircniv said, and glanced to another servant, who like colleague, was taking copious notes of what was happening, and then he rushed out of the room to ensure the task of preparing for that was finished properly, notices to the nobles who would be needed, notice to the military command, and so on.

"But before we go..." Ainz said, "Gate."

When the gate appeared he said, "Summon lich." When the lich appeared, he said, "Go to Nazarick, have them bring carts and wagons of food from our produce to the gates of Arwintar Palace, they are authorized transportation magic, also have some of our chefs come through to assist the humans, and bring cook books, let this city taste things they never imagined before." He said, and the lich went through the gate.

"Now, are you ready to go?" Ainz asked the emperor.

"Is anyone ever ready for this?" He asked sardonically.

"Not really, no." Ainz answered with an equally sardonic tone, "But people get used to it." He said, and when he cast gate again and stepped through, Jircniv followed without fear, followed by Leinas.

He found himself outside a massive complex, one larger than the noble's own estate, and standing right next to Ainz. The emperor had not found time to visit Yvas, though he had heard of the nature of the institution that Ainz had built for the man, the raw spectacular view of it was a whole other thing entirely. There was a large grounds flat cut and fitted stones, not simple cobbles, leading to a large ornate gate that appeared to be silver. The walls connected to the gate appeared to be of large solid block buried part of the way into the ground, but what truly was a marvel were the murals. To the left and right he could see students harnessing their knowledge to draw works of art along their length, and beyond the gate the path sat between an enormous hedge maze and was lined with a multitude of flowers, some of which Jircniv had never seen before.

Leinas was not less impressed, she had always been more for the art of war than the art of...art, however she couldn't deny that the fruits of peace were far more beautiful, she struggled and failed to retain her passive face as she soaked up the vision of what seemed a paradise before her eyes. Ainz leaned over to her and whispered, "Its OK to enjoy it, if you did not, I should think my work a failure." He said, and resumed his kingly posture.

Leinas allowed expression to fill her face and to simply soak in the tiny details that flooded her vision.

That first look by itself would have been jaw dropping, but as Jircniv continued to look at the building...even from a distance there were clearly figures carved into the building itself, the largest of which was on the left side of the building, there stood a giant of a man carved of marble, legs out wide so that each foot was at the front and back of the building, he stood tall and held his arms up, stopping at the hands that were even with the roof.

"What is...that?" He asked Ainz.

That statue the building is built against?" Ainz asked.

"Yes..." He said softly.

"That is a representation of Atlas, a mythical figure who was given the task by the gods to hold up the sky over the..."

"Amazing..." Jircniv said.

Ainz silently thanked his luck stat for Jircniv's interruption as he had almost said 'Earth' instead of 'the world'.

As they spoke, they drew the attention of those who previously had their backs to the pair, and when the students saw who it was, they knelt where they had been standing.

"Rise, rise." Ainz said, "We've come to see Count Yvas and tour the school."

"Allow me, I will take you to him immediately sires." A young, thin, dark haired student of pale complexion said eagerly.

Ainz gestured forward and the student began to lead the way.

Jircniv was looking at everything with a profound sense of envy, and Ainz deduced that the empire would see a revolution in architecture around the same time as it saw a revolution in art.

When they reached the main building, the intricacy of the work was even more obvious, white statues on columns lined the way, one outside of each window. "Why there?" Jircniv asked curiously.

"So that if any student should grow distracted, the glance outside falls on something that reminds them why they are here." The student said politely.

The steps were made of a multicolored smooth soapstone, and the doors a deep ebony wood, they were massive, but the student opened them easily, and the two rulers and Leinas followed him in.

Ainz had to admit, there was talent here. The students stopped to stare before dropping to one knee, but they were not the only ones looking. Ainz and Jircniv were looking right back, going over the work of the students that was being put on display.

"They do good work, don't they?" Ainz asked.

"They do indeed. I hope they live up to the potential they show today." Jircniv said, each speaking loud enough for the students to hear.

It was praise that they never forgot.

The student leading them took them up a winding set of stairs and down to the far left wing of the school, until he stopped at a nondescript door that stood out from the others only by having a single solid gem embedded into the center of its cherry wood form.

"Here sires." The student said.

"Thank you." Ainz said, and Jircniv nodded, and the student, sensing dismissal, departed to return to his work.

Yvas was at his desk, and he was looking over a set of documents and a set of ornate finished jewelry designs, he was so engrossed in his work that it wasn't until the door closed that he looked up in shock. When he saw who it was, he rushed forward as fast as he could, Leinas made to stop him, but Ainz held up a skeletal hand to halt her, and the man knelt at the feet of his benefactors with tears in his eyes.

"My lords, my lords, I am so glad to see you again so that I can express my gratitude, its everything I dreamed." He said loudly and enthusiastically.

Jircniv was not accustomed to such open gratitude, either in public or in private, if Ainz was uncomfortable, Jircniv couldn't tell, the undead king simply said, "Rise Count Yvas. We've come to see what you've done with the opportunity given to you. Clearly, it has been much."

Yvas stood slowly and smiled broadly, "Yes sires, thanks to your collective patronage, our students are thriving and trade is booming, the sale of their work has offset the cost of materials and provided a stipend, though they are only permitted to do work 'on' course grounds until they graduate, or on 'field exercises' where we take them to an outside location to paint or sculpt based on something located in the area we are visiting. Its a marvel, were I capable of dreaming as grandly as you have produced, this is what I would have dreamed of." He said with a happy sigh.

Ainz looked to Jircniv, "If you have no objection to an additional guest, I'd like him to come with us to Carne to see the arena, it will be after all, his students first great project."

Yvas looked confused. "There is an arena at Carne? Where is Carne?"

Ainz laughed, "You may very well be one of the last people in the world to ask that question when you see it. And in answer to your former question, there isn't yet, but there will be soon."

Jircniv several years ago would have found this to be frustrating in the extreme, but Jircniv now...considered it a fine idea, a testament and a credit to the empire. "My lord I definitely have no objection, it would be my pleasure to have our minister of national arts survey your project for the empire's contribution."

"You have a minister of national arts already?" Ainz asked curiously, while internally thinking as fast as he could, "I had not planned to suggest this until after the project's completion."

Jircniv grinned while Yvas stood like stone, "I have one now. When he has surveyed your project and returned to the empire I will have him briefed on his many duties in the development of the arts within our borders."

"It-it would be my honor." Yvas said in a voice of hushed awe. "I lack the words to express the degree of gratitude that swells within me." He said as tears of joy welled up.

"Those say enough." Ainz said, pointing to the trickle. "Pack what you need for a few days, we return to the palace of Arwintar to meet with the nobles and the military command shortly, then tomorrow there will be a feast in the capitol and after that we depart for Carne."

Yvas bowed deeply and rushed out, leaving the two rulers alone.

"This has been a worthwhile trip thus far." Ainz said.

"I agree." Jircniv said, "But this is more than a simple tour, isn't it?" He said.

Ainz cast a security spell over the room. "There, now we will not be overheard. Put plainly, yes, it is. You know of the tensions in the South, of my servants who have dedicated themselves to my ideals?" Ainz asked.

"I do." Jircniv said. "You saw my report on my meeting with the Slane Theocracy. The upcoming Synod has them in a panic, Neia Baraja's success, the growth of your theology among both merchants and warriors and the popularity of your free healing policy and the wealth generated by the undead is driving them to rash decisions."

"There will be war soon." Ainz said with a hint of sadness.

"Will you...use another one of your spells?" Jircniv asked with dread in his voice.

"Not if I can avoid it. I intend to wage this conflict through more conventional meansif possible, I will promise to refrain from using high tier magic as long as they agree to my rules of warfare on the treatment of prisoners and refrain from the abuse of noncombatants." Ainz said.

Jircniv's eyes went wide. "That is very generous I will admit, but why would you do this?" He asked. "You could end the war as soon as it begins."

"Several reasons." Ainz said, holding up his skeletal hand with all five fingers spread out. "First, they will simply adapt to low key combat with small numbers to minimize the number of targets, such combat methods draw things out for much longer and I would rather this be decisive." He curled one finger into his palm. "Second, I would gain a reputation for excessive bloodlust, even if I only targeted their military, this would only do more long term harm to my rule." He curled a second finger to his palm. "Third, it will be said that nobody follows my will save through fear. If I show that those under me fight with valor on their own, this will weaken that belief considerably." He curled the third finger to his palm. "Fourth, this will bring my differing peoples together through common threat, creating a sense of a unity of purpose, lizardman elf, elf will fight beside human, snakewoman will fight beside dragon, dragon shall fight beside dwarf, dwarf will fight beside quoga, I will integrate these armies so that a sense of unifying brotherhood and sisterhood is born from conflict." He curled the fourth finger to his palm. "And lastly, when they inevitably start breaking those rules of their own volition, targeting the weak, enslaving captives, and the other things they cannot keep themselves from doing, it will be their own fault when their borders are eliminated." He curled his thumb in over the closed fingers, turning his hand into a single fist.

Jircniv nodded somberly. "I see. I am truly glad I am on your side, majesty." He said sincerely. "So you will need the legions then?" He asked.

Before Ainz could answer, Yvas had returned and eagerly announced that he was ready to depart and had let someone know they'd have to take over for a few days.

"Gate." Ainz said, and a wide eyed Leinas and Yvas stepped through the gate and found themselves back in the palace of Arwintar.

No sooner had they returned than Jircniv asked if the council was ready, and a servant who was caught off guard had to stammer out a rushed "Yes sire."

"Then see to Count Yvas's quarters while I head to the council chamber." Jircniv snapped.

"Leinas, do you wish to join me, or do you require a break?" Ainz asked considerately.

"I'll join you sire." She said with surprise.

"Then lead the way Jircniv." Ainz said, and they followed him to a large council room, there was a large table at the center of an enormous room, the table was polished to a shine and there were enough chairs at it to hold dozens of people, while around the wall there were chairs enough to hold dozens more, space for functionaries, secretaries, and assistants most likely. Right now nearly every space but two was taken up, and when the two rulers entered, the room stood up.

"Be seated." Jircniv said, and both he and Ainz walked to the table. Jircniv waited for Ainz to sit, but Ainz instead gestured to the head of the table, and offered the seat to Jircniv. The emperor looked surprised. "I prefer to stand when speaking, and I will be brief." He said, and Jircniv nodded politely and sat down.

"You all know who I am, even if we have not met. Therefore I will be brief. A war is coming and it is coming fast. The synod at year's end will decide the course of the faith of millions, and the Slane Theocracy and their international sympathizers have already made up their minds. The tensions between my followers in the Northern Holy Roble Kingdom, and the traditionalists in the South, along with their close ties to the Slane Theocracy...not to mention the numerous sympathizers that must surely exist in the Re-Estize Kingdom, are going to continue to escalate." He scanned the room, he had their full attention.

"Does anyone wish to be caught offguard?" Ainz asked with sarcasm, and scanned the room again as if expecting a hand to go up.

"Good. Then you understand. I will be assembling a combined military command from all my domains and vassals. The Empire, The Dwarven Kingdom, the Quoga, the Lizardmen, the Abelion Hills, Carne, E-Rantel, loyal partisans of the Holy Kingdom, and yes, Nazarick." Faces went white at the scale of such an army. Nothing like that had been seen in...ever.

"Your Majesty...couldn't your magic end it more easily?" A nobleman asked.

"It could, but it would only lay the groundwork for a future war, if you wish to understand my decision further, wait behind for the emperor to explain it, I have already covered that ground with him, I do not like repeating myself." Ainz said simply.

"Simply put, this war decides the future, it is not a fight for land or wealth, it is not a fight for vanity or for personal glory. This is a fight that will decide the future of this world, the old ways...or the new ones. I will add however, that those who fight with valor in my service during the coming fight, will not be forgotten when the war has ended." Ainz said.

Nimble raised his hand. "Who will command in this fight?" He asked when Ainz acknowledged him.

"Each army will be headed by a single general appointed by me under the advisement of the person's authorized local government. For the Empire's legions, I would ask that you command, General Nimble. Assuming Emperor Jircnivs thinks you prepared for it again?" He asked.

Jircniv folded his fingers into a steeple and rested his elbows on the table, he held the posture as he thought, and then gave a somber nod of acknowledgement.

"Would you like to speak?" Ainz asked the emperor, "You appear to be considering something."

"Yes, thank you majesty." The Bloody Emperor said. "The nobility will not be shrinking from this fight. I expect every nobleman who is head of household who has heirs of appropriate age behind them at home, to lead from the front, you may make use of your household troops in addition to your companies of knights, but because this is a war for the future, not some petty skirmish meant to weaken an enemy, I expect that you will be where noble blood belongs. Those who flee will be abandoning their noble title in exchange for their lives."

The nobles swallowed, but nobody seemed of a mind to argue the point.

The remainder of the meeting was spent with Ainz explaining what was likely going to happen next and detailing the logistics of how they would be supplied during the campaign, and in a matter of hours, Ainz had them convinced that they could not lose even if they wanted to, and at the end Ainz said, "So there will be two thirds of the legions returned to the area around the capitol, and held here in training and preparation for the campaign. Any questions?"

There were none, and both Ainz and Leinas filed out, along with the few who did not have any questions for the Emperor himself, who explained the reasoning behind Ainz's choice to limit his use of magic.

Ainz however, went straight to his room to relax, and dismissed Leinas to get some rest herself, this day had been a long one in and of itself, and when he returned to his room he found the nervous maid from earlier preparing his bed. She bowed deeply to him, and Ainz gave her a small wave as he brushed past her. Idly he turned to her and said, "Has word spread of the feast tomorrow?"

She nodded. "I went out to eat today sire, and the criers were out in force, word has spread like wildfire of the Feast of Lemuria, and I visited our cooks, they were so busy that they all but shut down dining establishments throughout the city by having them prepare food for tomorrow in their own establishments while cooks here used our own, the city is in an uproar over it all. I cannot wait to see it." She said with a smile on her face that was warm enough to melt ice cream.

"Good." Ainz said, "I will take my ease and privacy and do some reading, be ready in the morning for a most enjoyable day." He sat down and pulled out a scroll and began reading the report detailed on it.

"As your majesty wishes." She said, bowed, and walked out of the room.

When morning came, Ainz ensured he was ready to go before the maid arrived, grateful for his undead nature and the lack of any true need to sleep, he stacked a set of documents out to one side of the table and took one off the top and began to read it. When the maid knocked in the morning he said, "Enter." She came in and looked in shock as she saw that he was 'still' at his desk and had a veritable mountain of documents beside him.

"Majesty...what are those?" She asked in surprise.

"Reports, laws for me to review, high level appeals, international communications, economic materials, and so on." He replied, and signed the document and set it on top of the stack.

"May...may I assist you in any way?" She asked softly, her eyes wide in a respectful expression.

"You may select a suitable outfit for me to wear today from among those currently hanging up. I will be out in public for my final day visiting the empire and so it should be something suitably festive." He said.

The maid scurried over to the wardrobe and pawed through them for a few minutes until she pulled one out of soft emerald green, light blue, and an autumn orange trim. It was worth the collective value of a small nation's annual budget, and Ainz had learned to know better than to question the fashion preferences of this world.

"That will do then, see to it that those I have brought with me to the palace are properly tended to for the day, and prepared to leave when the feast is over." He said and waved her away with a dismissal, she bowed and left the room. A few days later the rumor would reach Jircniv's ears that the undead King spent his twilight quiet hours reviewing records and scrolls of governorship, a rumor Jircniv could readily believe, and he found himself envying the undead constitution, as it enhanced the prestige and common regard of the diligent rule of Ainz Ooal Gown.

In early morning Ainz, preceded by Leinas, met Jircniv at the entrance of the palace, and with only a look between them that gave away the considerably long association, they opened the doors of the palace themselves and stepped out. The crowd was immense and their exit drew cheers for the very popular leaders, and Jircniv surveyed what he could see from the stop of the stairs. Tables were everywhere and chefs and other attendants were making runs back and forth to lay out food, while casks of beer and wine were laid out all over the great square, and when Ainz raised his skeletal hands high to indicate a wish for silence, the cheers gradually died down.

"People of the Empire, glorious is your city, glorious is your civilization, glorious are yourselves! As I look out upon you, filled with life and vigor, filled with pride and self respect and ambition, I must say that the worth of humanity is made clear as the sky is now! And it is in that spirit that I am proud to have your empire as my vassal state, and your emperor as my vassal. Your consummate loyalty and diligent labor has built an edifice that may stand for a thousand times a thousand years, and create the foundation for an age ahead that will leave countless generations thankful to you for the toil you have put in to creating it all! It is in that spirit that I welcome you to the first Feast of Lemuria, the revival of an ancient tradition wherein the living and the dead..." Ainz paused, and pointed to his skeletal face as if in jest that they might not have noticed that was him, drawing a number of laughs, while others groaned at his terrible joke telling, "come together before parting, today is my last day visiting your noble city until another year has passed, and then we will do this again, so eat well, live well, and don't start looking like me until you're all very old!" That brought out some laughs, and Jircniv held out a hand and a cup bearer rushed a cup of wine to him.

Jircniv raised his cup high and said, "To the Sorcerer King, long may he reign!"

The crowd shouted back, "Long may he reign!".

The next few hours were a fascinating time as Ainz moved among the crowd with Leinas close at hand, shocked to watch him greet commoners, merchants, rich, poor, noble, and newly free, alike with equal courtesy. It made a powerful impression on her that he could maintain his noble bearing even while seemingly forming bonds with others who were of a lower station than himself. It was easy to forget that she was looking at the back of an undead being, and more than once she wondered if he might not truly be undead at all.

Games were plentiful and Ainz even insisted that she try a few for fun, she found the hammer game especially fun, and even won a few prizes which she gave away to small squealing excited children.

But time must pass...except where Ainz decided it shouldn't, and the day gradually came to a close, his parting came to soon for many, and as the sun began to dip beyond the horizon, the emperor and Ainz made a retreat to many glasses and goblets and mugs raised in toast to their futures. When they were back in the palace, Ainz found that his 'new' companions were waiting for him. Kuuderika, Yvas, & Osk were all ready and prepared.

"Do you require anything for yourself before we depart Jircniv?" Ainz asked.

"Nothing I can't acquire on site." He said, "And I confess, I'm to eager to see what you plan, to care to waste a moment waiting on bags."

Ainz laughed, "Then lets be off." He said, and cast the 'Gate' spell. He stepped through, followed by the rest of his companions, ready to take the next step in reshaping the course of history.

**AN: Yes yes I know you have waited for days, and I have enjoyed your anticipation of this, however I hope the glut of chapters has allowed you to forgive me for the terrible sin of keeping you waiting. Though to be perfectly fair it wouldn't have been quite as long if I hadn't ALSO been overrun with tasks, I've had to go through a combat lifesaver course, prepare for a new class on ancient Hebrew, and some of these chapters required a little cultural research to make sure that even though I may have made changes, I kept the spirit of the historical traditions or references I was going for. Its been lots of fun, and I hope I made all this worth the wait. Assuming I did, well give me reviews before I starve to death, I've had to RATION myself on reading them you know, sniffle sniffle, and that's hard on me. ;) This concludes Part one of the seven part series that this story is planned to take up.**

**So have an Ainztastic day.**

**OH...one more thing...I was thinking of asking for 2-3 beta readers, if any of y'all are interested. Typos and minor mistakes annoy the ever loving shit out of me, and an extra few pairs of eyes might be a good idea, especially going back to alter existing work. Drop me a line if you'd like to do it.**


	7. Return to Carne

Leinas was impressed by the utility of the 'Gate' spell cast by her new lord, it took them countless miles in moments, from the view of a great city's many people, she had now come to something...very different.

No sooner than she'd stepped out, than she almost tripped over a goblin wearing a red cap. Leinas was a veteran warrior, she had fought and survived many life and death struggles, while she was proud of her skills, she was also cautious enough to know that there was always a more dangerous opponent. This long experience and innate caution had allowed her to evolve an excellent sense for danger, and the goblin she almost tripped over radiated power like a campfire emitted light and heat. Goblins were normally very weak, however this one was clearly not, it was such a contradiction to what she knew that she could not help but stare even as she backed away slowly, hand gripping her sword hilt while she tried not to appear threatening.

The goblin noticed her odd behavior, but if it felt her wariness it gave no sign. It looked at her with its head cocked, "Well hello there, where'd you come from lass?" He asked in a very curious voice, "How the 'ell could I miss you there?"

His answer was short in coming, but not from Leinas, rather it came in the form of the personage of the Sorcerer King who appeared behind her. The green skin of the goblin got noticeably more pale for a moment, and Leinas was quite sure that he was feeling from the Sorcerer King what she felt from the now much more pale goblin.

"Hello." The Sorcerer King said politely, and this snapped the frozen pale goblin back to his senses and he dropped to one knee immediately. The sudden appearance of the entire party drew stares from those around them, and these stares transformed into downward gazes as the various peoples knelt around him, having stopped whatever business they were about at the time.

**(*AN: I'm about to venture into an area of writing in this story that another, marvelous author has before, and you may notice some similarities, while they are not 'intentional' in that I'm trying to copy him, the nature of this story arc demands a similar presentation, if you have not read 'Masks They Wear', whose author so marvelously depicted Carne Village, then consider this my resounding endorsement, if my attempt at portraying this village after years of Ainz's rule does half so well as his own, then I count it a success...OK, that is all, back to the story.)**

When they knelt, Emperor Jircniv took a look around, getting a good look at the place he now found himself. It actually, to his surprise, reminded him of Arwintar, or how he imagined Arwintar had looked when it first began to grow from its village roots into a great city, it seemed as if he was looking through a window to his empire's distant past. Though the buildings were not enormous, they were well made, and the humans who knelt were all fit looking and clean, and his glance at them before they knelt had showed proud and contented expressions, like they knew they were a people on the rise, as if they sensed a special destiny in for those who lived on the foundations they laid.

That...was beautiful but not shocking. What DID shock the emperor was that the humans were not the only ones to look that way. Dwarves had walked with a comfortable swagger and elves had looked confidently at the projects they were overseeing, the undead walked without anyone even giving them a second glance, carrying heavy loads and following dwarves and elves, trolls stood behind them guarding a gate without laying a hand on humans and without being given a wayward wary glance by anyone who walked in or out, there were races he had never seen at all, but only read about, and they mingled freely with humans. A naga stood at a cart haggling with a human, a bear man was holding a pot bought from a honey vendor, and goblins were clearly changing shifts on a nearby wall and had appeared to interact in a friendly fashion. It was like the empire's capitol...but as if it were a dream.

Leinas was no less awed, as she looked around, she saw the smooth paved roads and the multiracial guards moving through the city, she even saw a goddamn lich hauling a cart like it was a donkey. She bit her tongue, not to keep back speech or even scream, but so that the pain would wake her if she were dreaming, or at least confirm that she was awake.

The Sorcerer King did not keep the population kneeling long, "Rise." He said, "You may go about your lives, and rest assured that I come to make them better ones tomorrow."

They stood and began to resume their activities, and the Sorcerer King said, "Follow me, I know the way from here."

The very strange party, including one young girl, one far flung nobleman, one emperor, one adamantite grade warrior, a portly arena manager, and an undead king, had no trouble making its way down the street despite its busy atmosphere. As they walked the party spent ample time observing their surroundings, while it still had the air of a village in the interior structures of the place, with village style homes, the wealth of goods that they saw bespoke a substantial amount of wealth flowing through here, and the intimidating looking walls looked like they were protecting something far more significant than a mere village.

It wasn't long before the Sorcerer King found his destination, a somewhat largish home, but still very clearly that of a peasant, was where the group stopped themselves. In front of them stood two goblins, they weren't excessively powerful seeming, but they did appear to take their work seriously and held their position even when they saw the Sorcerer King. The Sorcerer King raised a hand to stop them from the greeting he already saw forming on their lips, and he walked up to the door and knocked three times with his skeletal knuckles. Inside a strong, young, feminine voice replied, "I'll be right there honey, I'm sure its heavy!" And they heard the sound of a chair moving and the sound of echoing footsteps, moving quickly over a wooden floor quickly began, then ended with a fumbling with a latch, and the wooden door swung wide to reveal a pretty young blonde girl in good but simple clothing.

"Hello General Enri." Ainz said politely...and dryly, enjoying having caught her off guard. Jircniv raised a brow, finding it somewhat surprising that Ainz Ooal Gown had something of a mischievous streak to him.

Enri immediately knelt as if by reflex, "Your majesty!" She said in shock, "I-I had no idea you were coming!"

"Think nothing of it, I didn't tell you, so how could you know?" Ainz asked humorously.

She blushed, "Please, may I have the honor of inviting you into my home?" She asked.

"You may." He answered, and he gestured for her to stand, which she promptly did and stepped to one side, swinging her free arm out into the interior as she held the door open with her other hand. "Please, enter! Enter!" She said, "I was expecting my husband to return, truly I did not intend to refer to your majesty as 'honey'." She said with her face bright red.

Ainz laughed, it was a rare thing to hear, but it was deep and proud and unhesitating, "That of course, was the point General Enri Emmot. If a King cannot enjoy a laugh now and again, his life is so dreary that the crown is more curse than anything." He then walked in, followed by his entourage. Emperor Jircniv was profoundly confused, generals lived in palaces or castles in good times, or in richly appointed field tents during wartime, they did not occupy...a peasant home. Leinas was not significantly less so, and as they glanced around, no hint of clarity came their way from the others.

Enri's blush gradually faded as she gestured to a large table at the center of the room. "May I please offer what poor comforts my humble home has, for the use of my savior's guests?"

Jircniv kept his face neutral, but an inkling, a hint, of how she knew of the Sorcerer King was revealed by her words. 'Savior' was an unusually specific choice, he knew her very well somehow.

They sat one by one on the wooden chairs around the wooden table, it was none of it excessively comfortable, far from the cushioned softness of a throne, but it was nonetheless quite functional for its purposes.

"May I offer refreshments? I haven't much, but I can prepare tea if anyone is thirsty." Enri added.

"I will have some...thank you." Jircniv said, carefully ensuring that he was scrupulously polite to someone who must have known Ainz for quite some time and who seemed to have some form of military service to him directly.

The rest of the party also made similar requests, and she moved about the process of making it as if it were perfectly normal for her to do so, Jircniv noticed that there was no effort wasted in her efficient movements, but her actions also revealed a toned and muscled body, she might have looked the part of an ordinary village girl, and perhaps she once was, but clearly there was more to her than that. His musings were interrupted when another young girl walked through the front door and closed it behind her, and Jircniv noticed she was roughly the age of Kuuderika, and had a firm serious look about her to go with her tan skin and deep brown hair. She froze when she saw the people around the table her face went from serious to delighted, and her child like squeal was clearly sincere and a delight to the ear.

She rushed forward immediately and, to the absolute shock of all those present, dove into the Sorcerer King's lap in an enormous huge. "Majesty! Majesty! Majesty!" she shrieked. If Ainz could have blushed, he might have, but his bones spared him that and he patted her head. Jircniv made sure he closed his shocked wide open mouth as fast as he could at the unparalleled display of affection for the undead king.

"Its good to see you again Nemu Emmot." He said. "How long has it been?"

She stood back up, only to have her head rapped with a spoon by Enri who said, "Proper manners before the King Nemu." She looked embarrassed by her younger sister, and crossed her arms tapping her shoulder with the spoon impatiently, Nemu rubbed the back of her head with an excessively dramatic gesture, then knelt until Ainz laughed and told her to rise.

"Its OK General Enri, you know I make an exception for the first human child to visit my home, the joy and praise she heaped on the labor of my precious friends offered them warms my...well whatever I have in place of an actual heart." He laughed again, prompting the entire table...plus Enri...to be reminded again that he was terrible at telling jokes.

"I know majesty, but its still good for her to remember proper manners." Enri said with a sigh and returned to making the tea.

"It has been six months sire, the last time I visited your home to borrow and return some books alongside Lupusregina." She said with a slight pout.

"Well you'll have to come again soon." He said warmly, prompting the pout to turn into a broad smile.

"I can't wait." She said.

"Now, I have business with your sister for the moment, so why don't you go and play for awhile." Ainz asked in a way that said he was definitely not asking. The pout returned, but she nodded obediently and went back outside.

Jircniv's mind reeled at the exchange, and from what he saw, his perception of almost total disbelief was quite normal, it showed the stark contrast between the Undead...and the Undead King, for a moment, Jircniv wondered if his majesty was truly undead at all.

His musings were cut off when Enri returned with cups of piping hot tea and some small home baked cakes to go with it. She laid it out on a tray in the center of the table, and each person in turn reached for a cup and a single honeyed cake.

"Please, sit Enri." Ainz said, and she took the last open chair at the far end of the table.

"Let me introduce Emperor Jircniv of the Baharuth Empire, Leinas Rockbruise, my new body guard, Osk, who runs the imperial arena, Kuuderika, Count Yvas, also of the Baharuth Empire." Ainz said, gesturing to each one in turn, who inclined their heads in a dignified way that spoke of their noble character. Enri was growing progressively more stunned.

"And this," Ainz said to them, gesturing to Enri, "Is general Enri Barear, she defeated the army of Prince Barbro with her goblin army, resulting in the death of the Prince and preventing any reinforcements from coming to the Katze plains."

Their expressions grew more interested as Ainz gave Enri far more credit than she was sure she deserved, and Jircniv for his part was absolutely certain that her plain appearance hid a great deal.

"Her husband is N'ferea, the second greatest alchemist in the world...though his grandmother now says he's surpassed her." Ainz added, and their looks became even more interested, this did not change with Enri's blush at the praise.

"General Enri has been to the Library of Ashurbanipal and schooled in strategy under the finest tutors I could provide for her, and she will be a great asset in the days ahead." Ainz continued, lavishing praise on the blushing girl.

Enri knelt again in deference. "I will be of whatever use his majesty requires of me." She said humbly.

"That use is fast coming." Ainz said, "Now rise and reclaim your seat, I will be blunt about what I require of you, and tell you all you need to know." He added as she stood and sat again.

"We are going to be going to war, and we are going to go soon." He said, "You will be commanding your goblin army during the conflict, as well as any volunteers from this village." Her eyes widened.

"War, sire?" She asked in surprise.

"Yes, not because I wish it, but because necessity dictates it, and I cannot avoid it." He said. "The Slane Theocracy is creating conditions ripe for conflict, spoiling for it I should say, and though I could end it with a spell, I would only plant the seeds of future wars by doing so, and so I will wage this one as mortals do, and end it decisively that way. You will be commanding one of my armies." He said.

"I will do as you command sire, but what of the village?" She asked.

"Its hardly a village now, isn't it?" Ainz asked with a chuckle, there are more people between humans and demihumans here, than there are in some small cities, and you're still growing."

"It is thanks to his majesty." Enri said with an enormous smile, "It is as you say, but to my heart it will always be a village, even if it becomes the very center of the world some day."

Things began to fall into place for the cunning emperor. Ainz had rescued the girl and her village, found a talent in her, nurtured it, and ensured her loyalty and that of her husband, and has been investing in her village to make it a great center of power for himself with absolute loyalty underneath him. For what seemed the ten thousandth time, Jircniv wished he had half the luck the Sorcerer King did in sniffing out and winning talent to his side.

"I know you will." Ainz said. "You have ample time still, perhaps a year, perhaps a little less, perhaps a little more, but the time will come, and when it does, you must be ready to march. Your village will be ruled by a council in your absence, so you needn't fear, no hazard will come close to it. You will serve in concert with several other generals commanding various armies, one of whom you've already met. You do remember Zaryusu Sasha, don't you?"

Enri nodded emphatically, "The lizardman, yes I do, a highly intelligent leader."

"I will be appointing him to command over lizardmen and other demihuman and heteromorphic forces from E-Rantel and the Abelion Hills, and the Empire's forces will be lead by one of the great knights of the empire, Nimble. Our Southern forces will be commanded by Neia Baraja, and I intend to summon her here to speak with you before I leave this place." Ainz said, and eyes around the table went wide as the Sun as they envisioned armies like that, and the beyond legendary strength it would posses, but Ainz was not finished.

"And you Leinas, will be taking command of the nationalized adventurer's guild in the securing of citizen and the care of prisoners as we move South. I trust you're familiar with security work?" He asked.

She nodded numbly and then his words registered.

"Wait what?!" She asked with shock.

"When the time comes for the invasion, I intend to take many prisoners, and I also expect that my enemies will seek to abuse anyone they suspect is not on their side, adventurers will be used to protect the people from harm and to guard prisoners." Ainz said, and she blinked again.

"Is this a problem for you?" He asked.

She shook her head in small jerking motions, "No sire, its just...the scale of it all boggles my mind." She said softly.

"You'll get used to it." He said flatly.

Jircniv could only mentally shake his head and think, 'No...you won't.'

"Now, there is much more to cover as well." Ainz said, "Firstly I wish to know the status of your education?"

Enri blushed again, feeling like a little girl answering to her father about her unfinished chores. (*AN: Proceed with the 'Bone Daddy' jokes, you know you want to)

"Sire I labor hard under the goblin strategist, and he has praised my efforts, also I have learned more about logistics and can now calculate all the requisite formulas for supplies needed over distance for the size of my force both with and without forrage as a variable. I can read and write in Elvish, and while I am not much of a fighter, I have won over ninety-five percent of practice engagements between squads and platoons in our wargames." Enri said, biting her lip and hoping it was good enough.

"Well done." Ainz said, giving his approval. "Then prepare for much bigger things." He let out a sigh, "On to another matter..." he gestured to Kuuderika. "This is Kuuderika, her parents sold her and her sister into slavery, and her sister died, while she barely survived. I would like her to stay here with you, and be raised in your house alongside Nemu, where she can receive a proper education and have a better life. Do you have any objection?"

"No majesty, none, its just..." Enri gestured around the house, "I haven't but a peasant's home, is this..." She began in a voice that said she was about to cast doubt on the merits of her residence, but Ainz cut her off.

"It is the people in the house, not the size of it, that make for a home." He said. "I will have some labor devoted to expanding and improving your residence as a reward for your service to me, and this will also accommodate her needs." Ainz said.

That settled the matter and Enri looked over to the very shy, nervous looking girl, she walked over to her and leaned in, "Welcome to my home, or perhaps I should say, welcome to your home, for as long as you want it." She said sweetly.

For any girl who had lived on the street, cynicism and doubt were the greatest security against danger, but Enri's voice was so filled with warmth and sincerity that it was hard not to believe that she meant what she said.

"T-thank you." The young girl said softly.

"Please excuse me a moment." Enri said and straightened up, she went over to the door, opened it, and called out for Nemu, who came running up a moment later. "Kuuderika, would you come here?" Enri asked sweetly. Kuuderika got up, looked to the Sorcerer King for approval, and when he nodded, she went to where Enri stood.

"Nemu, this is Kuuderika, she'll be staying with us from now on, would you take her out to play and give her a tour of Carne?" Enri said kindly. Nemu and Kuuderika stood looking at each other in silence for a moment, as if sizing each other up, their serious faces seemed to reflect some common trait between them, and then as if reaching common favorable decisions, they raised their hands at the same moment, and shook hands with approving looks at the feel of shared callouses that bespoke much physical work between them.

"Come, let me show you my home." Nemu said, "Prepare...to be...amazed." She said with enthusiasm as a skeptical Kuuderika followed behind her.

Enri closed the door behind her and returned to the table.

"This is...a lot to take in sire." Enri said.

"It is, and there is still more." He said.

"More...?" She asked.

"Yes." He replied, "But first I need to know more about how Carne Village's growth has gone, the layout of the city in the making and it's districts, my next building project will be begun and finished very soon, and I want to know what you can tell me about which locations are where so that I can pick the best spot to build." He added.

Enri got up and grabbed a piece of paper and then sat back down and began to draw, grateful once again to the goblin strategist who had taught her about the importance of maps. "Sire," she said as she drew a circle in the center of the paper, "this circle represents where we are here, in what some have taken to calling 'The Old Carne district' almost all humans except for the original goblins and a few specialized goblins from the main army, its from here that we govern and make decisions." She drew a square around the circle, "This represents the newcomer district, mostly demihumans, elves, dwarves, quoga, the earlier additions to his majesty's dominion who have settled here, its a large area now and those who do most of the industrial work live here, on the northern outskirts near the Great Forrest of Tobb, is where most of our actual industry is, the dwarves set their shops up there, the blacksmiths and others who make things work out of there, I learned about the value of districting and zoning in the Library of Ashurbanipal, and it did create some chaos at first, but we've relocated all centers of production to that area." She said, she drew another square to the southern part of her improvised map, "Here we have our actual commercial district, most buying and selling takes place here, but some businesses are interspersed throughout the other districts to ensure easy access to food and drinks and so on. The merchants usually rent apartments over their shops in that place, so it sort of doubles as residential. "Beyond that", she drew a large square encompassing the whole thing, "this is where our military positions are, all our fortifications, we have people manning the inner and outer walls at all times, and to the west we have the military training grounds where goblins, humans, and other military and militia personnel practice their military arts. All to the South of that rests our fields, we've expanded them dramatically and now they're almost exclusively worked by the undead, and a small temple of Black Justice has been built on the outskirts of those fields where the undead are rented and managed out of." She said it all quite proudly.

Jircniv could not help but be impressed, it was all neatly ordered and clearly well managed, and he very much hankered to get a look in the Library of Ashurbanipal.

"I see, so there is room in the east, very good, then I will build there." He said, "Who wants to watch?" He asked, and the entire table stood up in unison.

**AN: Well here you go folks, I was going to wait on this one a bit since I wanted to study some more about districting methods and whatnot, but I saw a reviewer mention that it was his birthday and he was hoping to read a chapter for it, so...happy birthday anonymous Guest reviewer, hope this makes your birthday a little brighter. :) **

**As always, reviews needed and there is more pending, so, have an Ainztastic day everybody. :) **


	8. Styx & Stones

They walked out of the door of the 'somewhat large' peasant home, and and Ainz spread his arms as if to stretch as the Sun shone down on Carne Village. It was a simple gesture, to spread his arms and arch his back upwards towards the light, but to those familiar with the common undead, it was completely at odds with experience, to Jircniv it was just one of the many small things that made him think of his majesty as something other than what he appeared to be. "It is a truly marvelous day." He said with quiet dignity, and then began to walk, they followed along behind him for awhile, and Jircniv fell in to step behind the 'very much not an ordinary peasant girl' the Sorcerer King had identified as Enri Barear.

"How long have you served his majesty?" The emperor asked in a tone of idle curiosity.

She put her finger to her cheek and looked upwards casually, "Well sire that is a difficult question. He first rescued my younger sister and I several years ago when a group of knights attacked our village and killed our parents, Carne had no wall then you see, so we were easy prey. The Sorcerer King arrived, rescued us, and that was that. I didn't start 'serving' him right away though, I guess you could say I officially became his servant after he won the Battle of Katze Plains, when Prince Barbro attacked us, even though we were Kingdom citizens, I used a gift of his majesty to create an army." She gestured to one of the red cap goblins, "It gave me ten thousand of those, it gave me magic casters of destruction, wolf riders, heavy infantry, light infantry, archers, assassins, scouts, healers, musicians, and more. I suppose from the time I blew that horn to save us, I was heralding my service to his majesty."

Jircniv nodded in understanding. "Village life can be dangerous." He said, "But it gave you an army? A whole division?" His eyes went wide. "Remarkable." His voice was awed, but the truth was he was almost immune to shock when it came to the Sorcerer King anymore. The entire empire's legions totaled sixty thousand knights, and with one item the Sorcerer King had raised one sixth of that in an instant. He shook his head, reminded again that his offer of vassalage had saved his empire, while the Slane Theocracy seemed hell bent on destroying themselves.

"So...why did he leave you in command?" Jircniv asked, "I do not mean to give offense, however surely village life did not prepare you for that."

Enri smiled, it was a warm expression, one he didn't expect given how easily such a question could give offense, for a moment he thought he glimpsed her future, in thirty or forty years when the blush of youth was gone, when she was older and late into her middle years or more, she would have the warmest and most matronly of expressions, he found it all but impossible not to think kindly of her. "I take no offense sire, I have wondered the same thing myself many times, I even asked him about it once when I was in the Library of Ashurnibapal, the Sorcerer King came to check on my progress, and I asked if he had no one better suited than a mere peasant girl of no account, no name, no background, no education, just a nothing born into nothing..." She looked wistful for a moment, as if even though she were speaking to Jircniv, she wasn't really there.

"It was the only time I'd seen him angry before, he told me to immediately get up, he snapped it at me really, truly he is the most terrifying being I have ever seen when angry, even the hint of his displeasure would have brought me to my knees had his directions not been for me to stand up. When I did, he told me to follow him, and he lead me somewhere deep within Nazarick, another...smaller library, it was the personal library of one of the forty-one Supreme beings, of which he was one, so these other forty...they were gods. One of these gods apparently valued knowledge very highly, and had collected many works of people I had never heard of. The Sorcerer King then took a book off a shelf and showed me a picture of a person in chains, he said... "This person's name is...was...'Ned', he was born a slave, less than a peasant, and yet by way of brilliant mind he created an invention for scraping cotton that changed an entire industry." He then flipped to another page and told me, "This man's name was Montgomery, though also born a slave, he invented a way to revolutionize boat travel in his day, replacing paddles with propellers. Though their bodies and social station were lowly, their minds were greater than those of their masters. Birth created both master and slave with differing social stations and opportunities, but it did not decide their abilities. Centuries ago, a wise person once said that somewhere in the world, there may have stood a woman who had a mind capable of solving the greatest problems of the age, yet because of her birth, instead of solving those problems, she was walking miles to the river with small children, struggling to keep herself and her offspring alive another day. It is not the station of your birth that decided your intellect or ability, it is not who your parents are that decreed your worth. It is what you do with the gifts you have when the opportunity to develop them is presented." I still remember the sound of the blook closing, and the sound it made as it slid into the place where it had been. And I still remember the glowing red eyes as he looked back to me and said, "If you wish to become a no account nothing of no worth, you can do so, I will find someone else, true service is never commanded. But if you wish to be more, do more, create more, for yourself, your sister, your village, and your world, then return to your studies, and never speak of yourself in such lowly terms again."

Enri came out of her wistful expression and looked back over at the spellbound emperor, "I couldn't bow deeply enough and I returned to my studies with vigor, he taught me that talent can appear anywhere, and he saw in me what I didn't see in myself." She pointed at a building, "See that building over there?" She asked.

Jircniv nodded, not wanting to break the spell of her speech. "That is our school, a Black Justice priest arrived to teach our children how to read, write, do math, and more, he said if we were willing to work to build the place ourselves, then he would ensure it was staffed and provided with the necessary materials. He said that talent wasted was a wasted life, and that a wasted mind was a living death...so he ensures we are taught."

"He pays...for the education of peasants?" Jircniv finally spoke, had his voice been different, it might have given offense, but it wasn't said in contempt, it was awe not dissimilar to the tone he used when the raising of an army with a single item had been, even in the Empire, education was usually either restricted to the nobles and wealthy merchant families, or at most paid for by those who required a specific set of knowledge and no more, peasants needed to know how to work the field, hunt, and perform simple tasks, educating them sounded like a total waste, not to mention impossible, but as they crested a low hill he caught a glimpse into the distance and saw skeletons working the fields and he understood...without the need for the children to work the fields, they could be put to something else, and with the reduced cost of labor and the higher yields, he could devote time and resources to educating even the poorest of his people.

Enri did not count herself to be the very wisest when it came to reading people, but she had a flash of inspiration as she saw the Emperor connecting the dots between the fields and the school and the values of the Sorcerer King, and she foresaw a vast sea of changes in imperial policy regarding the educational status of the peasants who fed the empire.

"Oh good, I see they've taken my suggestion to heart." The Sorcerer King said, and they looked where he was looking, and they saw he was looking over the same rise to the field, there a group of people were tending to a pile, heaving straw, grass, and animal waste onto a pile of what appeared to be garbage. They shouldn't be doing that so close though." Ainz said thoughtfully, "Enri do remind them that such piles must be kept far away from other living beings for safety and even though it is convenient to spread the result to the nearby field, it would be unhealthy until it is ready to be near it."

Enri nodded rapidly, "I will, your majesty."

"What exactly is 'it' Sire?" Osk asked curiously.

"A compost pile." Ainz said. There were profoundly confused looks. "Oh...right...I need to explain." He said to himself.

"Waste disposal needs increase with population size, everybody knows this, yes?" He asked.

The group nodded. "The more people you have, the harder it gets. Some cities use slimes in sewers to consume the excess, however that requires an underground facility that growing villages, towns, military encampments, and so on will not have. So to ensure waste management I have taught the people of this place how to create compost, essentially creating new soil suitable for growing crops, thus the very population itself enhances the area available for fields."

Jircniv could only stammer out, "H-how did you do this? Magic again?" He asked.

Ainz shook his head, "Its simply manipulating the properties of nature, you start on bare earth where worms will live, transport some if you don't have any, lay down twigs and straw about the depth of a spread open hand, this is needed for drainage, then lay down your layers of refuse between what is moist and what is dry, for example, food other than meat is moist, while sawdust or straw are dry. Then you take green manure and place it atop that, then you let rain fall on it periodically or, in a dry area, moisten it yourself occasionally. Then just keep it covered by a wooden surrounding, and then every few weeks go out and turn the pile with shovels and pitchforks. This produces soil that is very fertile, you can then scatter that soil around to a new area to expand your fields or over an existing area to enrich the fertility of your existing area." Ainz said matter of factly. Keeping the areas where people live clean, helps to keep them healthy, healthy people produce more work, pay more in taxes, and raise more children to do the same, and this enriches everyone, including the people themselves, so we must ensure that we aren't simply dumping waste where it will put a burden on healers magic." Ainz said as if he were giving the time of day and not revolutionizing waste disposal.

"The whole town carries their waste there...?" Jircniv asked incredulously.

Enri laughed. "No sire, you see each of those bins outside of the house, the ones painted green, blue, and unpainted?"

Jircniv nodded.

"The green ones represent waste food, spoiled goods, human waste, the blue ones represent dry waste, and the unpainted ones represent cloth or other material not suited for that kind of disposal. We have leased some skeletons who go around and collect the bins into different carts, return the bins to the front of the house, and then take it to the piles for sorting."

"Ingenious." Jircniv said admiringly.

"Thank you." Ainz said politely as he continued to explain the additional projects in city management that were being tested in Carne, by the time he'd finished they were found themselves in the location Ainz had previously selected.

They felt him radiate happiness as he prepared for the creation of something new. "Count Yvas, I expect your students will find themselves very busy for a very long time, from graduation year to graduation year, tending to the decoration of this arena."

"Sire?" Count Yvas said curiously as they looked over the empty ground.

"Do you want to explain to them, Enri?" Ainz asked.

Enri grinned. "It would be my pleasure sire."

The group looked from the undead king to the influential village girl. "Someone named Shi Tee Devs a long time ago, apparently loved to make new things, but the mechanics for it were not very good and he didn't like setting some kinds of pieces, so he created a spell that let the caster choose individual components for construction, as the spell was being cast, each part of the building would be selectable, starting with dimensions and then all the different parts the caster wanted, simple versions let a person make a cottage, but the Sorcerer King can use beyond tenth tier spells to create vast structures..." She went quiet, and at her silence they looked back to where they had been watching as the Sorcerer King pointed from one place to another on the ground.

Enormous dimensions along the ground were glowing over and over one after another, they watched as he did this at an ever increasing pace, the ground would glow green, and then each area he selected would eventually turn blue, then he would move on to another space, this went on for the better part of an hour, until all the ground in the area of the spell was a glowing moonlight blue, and then the Sorcerer King shouted, "Create ARENA!" And from the ground an arena began to emerge, the ground rumbled violently at the disruption, and at first it was simply pushing up spires at the corners...they emerged from the ground like stalks of corn or bamboo, then rising, rising, rising, and growing broader as they filled out. As the spires rose they saw windows interspersed, clearly to allow people atop to either watch or call out announcements to the crowds, then they saw the walls to which these spires were connected, they were plain and unmarked, but made of sheer marble the color of white smoke.

Then came the arches, a series of them rising one after the other until the building sported seven levels of them one on top of the other, with several great wide entries on this side alone. They simply stared as the building finally completed its long and slow growth. When everything had gone still and the noise and rumbling and shaking had all stopped, Ainze stood in front of the entrance and swept his skeletal hand over the main entrance, "Create Sign" he said, and then moved his skeletal finger as though he were writing in the air itself, and over the entrance appeared his script, "Welcome to the Arena of Styx".

"Before you ask," Ainz said, Styx was a goddess of legend who joined with the god Zeus, she brought with her, her four children, Zelos, Kratos, Bia, and Nike. Their names come from a long lost language, which to the modern tongue...would mean that...Zelos was rivalry, Kratos was strength, Bia was force, and Nike was victory. This arena is the mother of those, and the combatants who grace it are her children, in spirit if not in fact."

Though his skeletal face could show know emotion, they could sense the Sorcerer King's pleasure, Osk had fallen to his knees, and would have fallen on his face, but he could not stop staring at what stood in front of him. "Its...the most beautiful thing I have ever seen." His eyes welled up with tears.

Ainz looked to the count. "Well Count Yvas, do you think your first year's skulpting and painting graduates would find a portion of this arena to be a suitable final project?"

Yvas could not speak, he could only nod rapidly, and Ainz could see the wheels turning behind his eyes as he envisioned what the potential for such a project.

Enri and Jircniv shared a much impressed glance, and finally Enri found her tongue. "It is...marvelous your Majesty."

The noise and the sudden rise of spires and the towering structure with them had alarmed the community, and the citizens and guards began to rush to see what had happened, trolls, orcs, demihumans and humans, came en mass or stared from the walls as the Sorcerer King cast his flight spell and allowed himself to rise in front of the structure.

"People of Carne, people of the Sorcerous Kingdom, behold the Arena of Styx, the greatest arena in the world, you championed my cause, fought for me against a foe, you stood among the first to mark yourselves worthy of greatness even in your darkest hour, now I show you the fruits of the character you have revealed, in all its glory, this arena will house champions of the ages yet to come, forged under your eyes or born from your own houses! Stand proud and strong in your service to your nation, you who have shown the possibility of true PEACE, shall house in peace the contests of valor and courage and skill, not for a mere thousand years, but for a thousand thousand generations! Go, explore the new arena, count this a holiday given to you by my will, and may your children thank you for your virtue in all the days to come!"

Cheers greeted his impromptu speech, and people began to funnel out the gates as Ainz descended to the ground below. "Sire..." Leinas asked, kneeling as he touched the ground.

"Yes Leinas?" He asked curiously.

"May I compete there?" She asked hopefully.

"I wouldn't dream of denying such a chance to you." He said enthusiastically. "But for now, you can all explore it later, and I think it is going to be rather hectic for now so...Gate" he said, and then as it appeared, he gestured for them all to step through, which they did, following after him and putting them all back at Enri's home.

"Now, I think its time you all met someone of some importance to the future." Ainz said. That had their attention, not many could be important enough that a being like him would identify them as such.

"I think its time you met Neia Baraja." He said, and before they could even react, he was sending out his message.

**AN: Well I know this chapter is short, however you ought to be used to that by now when I don't have a fast paced scene to lay out that requires ten thousand words or more, and I think I'd much rather be close to the expression: I prefer you say of my work, "How good it is to see you again!" than to have you ask "Why have you come again?"**

**Of course as always I feed on reviews and am heartily glad to have your eyeballs and brains engaged, and of course also as always, kudos to those of you who got all my obscure little references sprinkled throughout the story along the way. Till next time! ...Which may be a few days, so be patient.**


	9. Meeting the Mad Eyed Archer

Ainz cast the Gate spell a few minutes after his message was sent. Every time he saw it, Jircniv marveled at the blunt utilitarian nature of the spell, an empire linked by such a thing had no limits on its reach, every city was one or two steps away, no border was beyond the reach of a hand. He cursed the limits of humanity that could not reach out and take such power, but there was little time to contemplate this, because a moment later a woman stepped through, a woman whose face he knew immediately, he'd never met her in person, he'd never even seen a picture, but there was one feature that stood out in every report he read, a feature so overwhelmingly uniform in its description that he could not have mistaken her for anyone else, even if he had not known who he was about to meet when she stepped through the gate.

Terror. Unbridled nightmarish terror. The Mad Eyed Archer, the acolyte of unlife, the founder of Black Justice, paladin's bane, Her face embodied it, her eyes seemed to have the eyes of a predator at the pinnacle of power, when her gaze fell on him, he felt as though he, perhaps the greatest emperor the Baharuth Empire had ever seen, were nothing more than a bird, so proud in the sky, being sized up by a hungry serpent for a meal.

The narrow look she gave as she moved from one person to the next did not make Jircniv alone shiver.

Osk took one look at her face and imagined the martial lord himself shuddering. He'd spent a lifetime among heroes and warriors, he thought he knew how to determine the powerful from the weak, but she blurred that line. He didn't feel like she was exuding power on the scale of his majesty, or even the martial lord, or even the powerful swordsmen and adventurers he'd encountered in the past, truth be told he got the feel of someone at most on the upper middle ranks, but a look at her face and he felt it was nothing but a disguise on her part, as if she were suppressing monstrous power just beneath the surface, he couldn't take his eyes from hers, it was as if they sucked him in and consumed him whole, like the unhinged jaws of a serpent. It was a great relief when her eyes moved on.

Enri Barear managed to maintain a polite smile at the woman as she looked her over. Neia Baraja was not overly tall, they were in reality almost the same height, and even a similar build, but Enri felt as if she had to crane her neck to look up at her, as if she were the size of a troll, her presence was impossible to not notice and feel dwarfed by. The forest green armor she wore had to have been that of the Grand King Busar, the monster beyond all but the greatest heroes that she'd defeated, even this far away, the story of her crushing the monster had been carried on the mouths of bards. Enri had found the story doubtful at first, but now looking at the girl who carried a godly bow on her back and wore the armor of an overwhelming demihuman lord...it seemed unlikely that the monster had ever truly stood a chance, the girl reminded her of what she felt concealed beneath the playful guise of Lupusregina Beta, only revealed instead of concealed.

Leinas had only stepped back once in her life, the day she encountered the monster that had cursed her. Today she added a second time, the eyes of the mad eyed archer were fearsome, fanatical, powerful. She was spellbound and speachless, and when she stepped back, she felt herself stop against the chest of the Sorcerer King, she blushed in shame, an stepped forward again, relieved that the Sorcerer King did not see fit to reprimand her, in all probability, she felt he must have understood why she'd just done that.

Count Yvas took one look at her, and though he felt the awe and terror at her face as much as any other, his artistic spirit was stirred, and he looked at every feature, memorized every line of her form, every dimple, every mark, every stray hair falling from her head, and every detail of lips and nose and cheeks...and above all...her eyes. He was saved from his fear by his desire to immortalize what he saw. It would be a defining moment for the life of the artistic Count, in the many years that would pass between that encounter and his eventual final rest, he would immortalize her in painting and sculpture, her face would be put to goddesses and demons, to heroes and villains, one of the many legacies of the mad eyed archer.

Ainz looked at his acolyte, his most devoted human follower, the bearer of his justice, and he was duly impressed...and very uncomfortable, with the power and devotion her eyes gave away. Unlike Jircniv, Osk, Yvas, Leinas, & Enri...Ainz knew why they were feeling the things they were. He recognized the power of the evangelist in her, she exuded charisma, terror, power far beyond what she physically possessed, she had presence and a sense of authority that could move the hardest hearts and terrify the bravest, depending on her mood, and she must have been in a terribly angry state before his summons. He wondered what it was she was dealing with beforehand.

"Oh...right." She said, and took her visor out and put it back on her face, the aura she'd exuded on the others vanished as if it never were. Then she approached and knelt in front of Ainz Ooal Gown. "Your majesty your servant stands ready at your command." She lowered her gaze with genuine deference.

Jircniv felt it was fitting that she should serve the only one he'd ever met who was more terrifying.

"Rise." Ainz said in his noble voice, "It is good to see you again Neia Baraja, you've been very busy it seems."

"Never to busy for you, your majesty, and only ever busy doing what needs to be done, spreading your majesty's justice to all those who need to know of it." She said, her voice, though not loud, boomed with power as it hit the ears of those around her.

"I would have it no other way." Ainz replied as she stood, allow me to introduce you.

"This is Count Yvas, arguably the finest patron of the arts in the Baharuth Empire, his students will be working on my new Arena here in Carne."

Neia reached out with one hand after removing her glove, and shook the hand of the man in front of her, she sensed a powerful obsession in him, and she felt a part of it directed at herself, a disconcerting and curious thing given that she was just now meeting him, but she shrugged it off and gave him a polite hello. She thought for a moment he would critique her for not bowing to a nobleman, but Neia had resolved that she would bear such a critique, there was only one to whom she bowed now, to many human nobles had disappointed her to give deference to anyone, only one should be bowed to, all others...could either shake her hand or receive nothing.

"This is Osk, he'll be running the Arena here." Ainz said, and Neia held out her hand again, she carefully read the man in front of her, he was no warrior, but she could sense talent in him, an able figure, a mind of worth if not a body. He shook her hand without hesitation, something she approved of.

"This is General Enri Barear, ruler and commander of the Army of Carne." Ainz said.

Neia carefully took measure of the girl as she held out her hand, for all the world she seemed an ordinary peasant, but that was of no account to Neia, before Ainz, she'd been an ordinary squire, a little more talented in some unique ways, but perfectly ordinary otherwise, if she was called to something great, others could be too...though she felt a little jealous over it, she pushed that aside, the girl's hands were calloused and her body was fit, both things Neia approved of, the woman seemed to take her in stride as well, an unusual thing in its own right, and that left her wondering what oddity of experiences that Enri had experienced with the Sorcerer King, a question she would have to ask when time allowed her to indulge herself.

"This is Leinas Rockbruise, my bodyguard and a new servant to my court." Ainz said, and Neia reached out to shake the woman's hand, the woman thrust her hand forward quickly as if she were reaching into the fire, and she squeezed tight as if to test Neia's body, Neia squeezed right back, and lowered her gaze slightly so that she was looking slightly over the visor, she caught the woman's eye, and Leinas released her grip, her attempt at testing Neia had not gone quite as she expected. Leinas had indeed squeezed tight, but if this Neia had felt anything, she'd held it back, and her death gaze told Leinas that she had not appreciated the test. Though her return grip had not been excessively strong, she deeply suspected there was more power there than she let on.

"And this, is Emperor Jircniv of the Baharuth Empire." Ainz said, and Neia turned to look the emperor over in greater detail. He was richly dressed and he did not appear to be a fit combatant, but service could take many forms and she knew he had been a vassal of the Sorcerer King for longer than she had served him...so he must be very skilled in his role, so she held out her hand to the emperor who for a moment seemed dumbfounded, then he responded quickly and reached out and shook her hand.

"Its a pleasure to meet you all." Neia said, "Some of you I have heard of, and I must say at first glance at least, you live up to your reputations." She gave them a warm smile that, with her eyes hidden behind the visor, sparked a warm reception.

"I called you here for introductions." Ainz said, "But also another matter of some significance. I will be blunt. War is coming."

"Majesty, wisest of the wise, god of justice and wisdom, may I speak freely?" Neia said deferentially.

"Always." Ainz said.

"For me, war is already here. The fall of Prart and my influence in Yanana, the seige of Kedyn and the troubles with the South, I am already fighting a war." She said softly.

"True." Ainz said, inwardly rejoicing at her honesty, the kind of feedback he craved but could never get from his guardians. "However I speak of a wider conflict. The Slane Theocracy has been very active in the South and in the North of the Roble Holy Kingdom, Neia has been instrumental in disrupting them, but all out war is inevitable at this point, and I intend to respond. What is more, the Slane Theocracy is also active in the Re-Estize Kingdom. I fully expect this to be the largest war in the last six centuries at least." Ainz said flatly.

"The legions are already being mobilized. General Enri's army is ready to march, Neia, I want you to take official command of Black Justice as a formal military operation, gather your finest and when hostilities break out, conduct a fighting retreat from the South, slow them down, you can't beat them, not by yourself, but you can slow them down while we march to your aid. Zaryusu Sasha will be commanding an army as well, raised from the lizardmen, dwarves, quoga, my nationalized adventurers, elves, and human volunteers and I will send armies of my own devising into battle as well, of both undead and demihumans and heteromorphs raised from the Abelion Hills. Leinas, you will be taking command of the undead and demihumans I raise, that is...assuming you can handle that." Ainz said firmly.

And as he spoke Neia imagined the size and scale of such a force...Re-Estize levies, Scriptures & Slane Theocracy armies...Southern Knights and Paladins, Northern allies of the South, & Remedios Custodio's renegades on one side...and the vast armies of the Sorcerer King's vassals and subjects on the other, it was just to much for her brain and she could scarcely imagine it all.

"Majesty, what of your magic?" She asked.

Ainz nodded. "I intend to negotiate away the use of my highest tier spells in exchange for certain concessions to rules of war, if they agree to treat prisoners well, treat all wounded equally, accept surrenders that are offered, and a few other minor details, I will fight through conventional means and crush them completely without overwhelming force from my singular ability, in this way I will usher in a new era showing that all together are stronger than any alone."

It was a stirring moment for them all, and Leinas spoke up, "Your majesty, I've been a bodyguard and an adventurer, but I've never commanded an army in war before. If you command me, I will obey, but I fear disappointing you through my inexperience."

Ainz stroked his chin as if in thought, "I will ensure you are properly taught beforehand. There will be some months before war breaks out, probably before the Synod, but I admit even I can't say for sure whether or not it will begin before, during, or after, according to my calculations each one is definitively possible. Its the random factors that throw the matter off, it all depends on how successful attempts are on King Caspond's life."

That brought stares of shock. "Do I have something on my face?" Ainz said, and began to move his skeletal fingers over his cheek.

"No majesty, its just...you said about King Caspond..." Jircniv began.

"Oh, according to my calculations based upon his friendly relations with me that will make him a persistent high value target for assassination, I offered him body guards, but he refused on the grounds that it would appear he was my prisoner and not my ally, a brave position...but one unwise I fear. If he is killed sooner, there will be war sooner, if he is killed later, there will be war later, but he has to die or be otherwise incapacitated and unable to rule before war can break out." Ainz said as he laid out his predictions.

There were blank stares as they saw the undead genius lay out the future as if he was unrolling a map on a table, and once again Jircniv mentally congratulated himself for yielding when he did.

"Whenever it happens however, I intend to be ready. So Neia, whatever you're doing in Wenmark, make sure you're done soon, I would not want to be stuck there when a hostile government exists in the North and aid cannot reach you easily." Ainz said bluntly, Neia swallowed.

"Yes your majesty." She said. "I intend to finish work there as fast as possible and then move North again before things get worse."

"That is why I am touring my domain, tying up loose ends, ensuring everyone is ready when the time comes for combat, I will leave nothing to chance, the future of the world is on the line here, and it must be won decisively or the next generation will fight this war all over again. If you wish to end this conflict in such a way so as to spare your children and grandchildren and great grandchildren the repetition of it all in the future, then it must be won thoroughly and decisively, destroying forever all thoughts of rebellion. A narrow victory will lay the seeds of war a generation later, or even prevent its ending in the present, it must be total and complete, or it might as well be a defeat." Ainz said simply, as the generals exchanged glances at one another.

"Now, I'd like to see where the goblin armies train for combat." Ainz said, "General Enri, would you lead the way?" Ainz asked politely.

"Of course my lord." She said and they walked to another area well outside the village, and from the top of a low hill they looked down and saw the goblins stabbing spears into straw dummies, and some of them working with humans who were doing the same. Nearby, goblin battle mages sent fireballs at individual and group targets, near that, they saw an assassination team storm a building manned by human defenders, though the goblins were clear victors, the humans who served as their opponents not only didn't seem to mind, they put up a very good fight along the way.

"Your people are growing stronger." Ainz said. "You should be proud, Enri." His voice was polite and noble, and Enri blushed.

"Thank you your majesty, we've been working hard." Enri replied. "I'm sure when I tell them about the call up, you'll have many of the humans here volunteering to offer up their lives to you."

"You think so?" Ainz asked curiously.

"Yes your majesty, you saved many of their lives, many of their children's lives, many of their parents and grandparent's lives, from being slaughtered by those terrible Theocracy knights. The people have been promising to someday pay you back for your generosity by laying down their lives for you, many will see this as the chance they'd long been denied, and will immediately volunteer, their only question will be whether or not they'll be issued equipment or need to bring their own." Enri said with absolute confidence and certainty in her voice.

Neia admired her conviction. "I won't argue with their devotion." Neia said as she looked down where they were, "But I will be frank, they'll fight hard and die quick as they are right now, Enri, will you object if I send a few of my instructors from the capitol to you, our combat style will suit many of them quite well, and it will complement the more rigid and professional goblin forces that you already have. If they had more time, I'd say leave them to train as they are, but since his majesty says a war is coming fast and at an uncertain hour, I think extra manpower and instruction will be vital for ensuring as many survive as possible."

Enri didn't have to think about it long. "Thank you Pope Neia." Enri said politely, "I would be pleased to accept your offer, anything that prepares my people to live through war, cannot possibly be a bad thing, I regret having to send them out, but if I can do more to bring them back after winning, then more I will do."

"And that is why you will make a great general." Ainz said bluntly.

"It is one thing to send soldiers out to die, it is another to do so uselessly or indifferently, it is a poor general who cares nothing for their subordinates, and I will not have any bad bosses in my employ. Fight to win, but make sure you give your soldiers the means to fight and win handily, the only true victories are the big ones, anything else is not that different from defeat, since at most it guarantees the same conflict all over again." Ainz added with firm conviction in his voice.

Enri and Neia shared a look of mutual understanding, and as Neia looked over her visor at Enri and they met one another's gaze again, Enri found herself to be not nearly so intimidated the second time around.

**AN: Yeah, yeah, longer chapters, I know, just go with it. :) Enjoy the fact that you got 3 in one day and so on, almost had 4, but its late and I am tired. Reviews feed me, and its hard to write when starving. **


	10. The Carne to Come

"Majesty," Neia said, "I...I wasn't going to say anything...not in mixed company while you were speaking of King Caspond..."

"But?" Ainz said, as all eyes turned to Neia.

"I heard...just before getting here, that Caspond is already dead, I suppose they are announcing it throughout the nation, but it was only a short time before you summoned me, so I think official notice will be sent out to all other nations soon. Though the details are not all out yet, assassination seems most likely...and as messages have already reached me in Wenmark, it can't be long before it is let out to the nations of the world."

The group froze where they stood, and Ainz spoke up, carefully controlling his tone to ensure his own knowledge of the event through Demiurge was not evident. "That will mean war comes sooner, before the Synod. The Slane Theocracy is behind his death, that much I am sure of." He looked at Enri & Leinas, "We will have the day while I am here, but when it is time for me to travel to E-Rantel, I will be sending you both to Nazarick, you will be spending abundant time in the arts of generalship. For all the folly of the Slane Theocracy, it would not do to think them inept in this."

There was a collective silence as his words sank in, "A war like this is unlike anything you will have ever seen. But I..." Ainz's arms fell open, his hands down, his eyes glowing bright as the Sun, "I have seen far...far worse. But this is how new worlds are born, through the fires of war. When it is over, the old ways will be seen by future generations as an absurd folly, and their overthrow will be regarded as the foundation for the new."

They swallowed hard, and Neia impulsively knelt before her god of justice. "It will be as your majesty says." One by one, as if driven by Neia's actions, emperor knelt with village girl, as they each one by one swore to see his vision made real, promising to lay their victories at his feet in tribute.

Ainz inclined his head to them, "I have no doubt of your courage, your will, or your abilities, whether born to rule..." he gestured to Emperor Jircniv, "or born to labor and serve," he gestured to Enri, "but in the face of great challenges to the roles in the world we know, each has had to change, and now I ask you to take on a new trial, but I will prepare you for victory as best I can, with a stockpile of runecrafted gear, intelligence, and more, you are fighting to win, not fighting to die gloriously. Now rise, we have a few hours, perhaps a day, before word of the death of King Caspond is officially relayed to surrounding nations. Who they will select in his place...well I can think of only two candidates that seem possible. For now however, until it is official, lets enjoy this day at least."

The mood was sober after that, they moved through the village of Carne, and Ainz voice became whistful as he spoke. "When you are immortal, the term 'a lifetime ago' loses all meaning..." As he began to speak, silence met him, the rare tone and subject drew their ears like a moth to a flame, Jircniv perhaps paid closest attention, feeling the onset of a rare insight in to the undead King. "...but I must use those words now, how much can change and so little time. When I first beheld this village it was near its death, men in armor with swords who saw themselves as powerful, who saw themselves as the very instruments of god, had come one and all to kill it. They didn't hate the people who lived here, they were however, willing to kill them to lay a trap for a man greater than themselves, so that they could draw him into place where he in turn could be killed." He snorted, "Had I the ability, I would spit at the dirt in disgust at their choices. But being undead, well I can't really do that anymore."

Neia took the initiative, and spat at the dirt for him. "A good servant does for their master, what their master cannot." She said.

Ainz inclined his head to her, and her heart sang.

"Still and all, my decision to save this place was not all altruism, it was the voice of a comrade much loved and long gone, heard across the years from a time when I was younger than I am now, when he helped me and said, 'saving the weak is common sense.' In his name I came to this place, destroyed the ravaging knights, a theocracy scripture, and saved the great man, whose life I would later take. And now this place has been made greater than its people ever dreamt, and the great man who came to save it has died without knowing what it has become. As I watch all this on the eve of war, I wonder if this village, which may be the seed of one of the great cities of the world, serves as a small picture of time of my rule, the small...even trivially insignificant battle that I waged here, a representation of all that lies ahead. Now, just as then...a terrible force appears to overturn lives, destroy those who have done them no wrong, and again I am ready to face it. Though this time with good subjects and allies, and it will not be one small skirmish, not this time." He chuckled slightly, "One good thing about being an immortal, the age old question, 'what happens next' is something I'll continuously live to see answered."

It was a very strange monologue, and Jircniv struggled to come to terms with it, it spoke of a highly reflective mind, one bent on analyzing the past to understand what lay ahead. Jircniv knew humans like that, scholars mostly, he tried it himself and found reflection on the past to be a very powerful thing, like studying the roots of a plant to understand what grew from them, but this one didn't have a mere six centuries to draw from, it had tens of thousands of years, its no wonder he could predict assassinations, it was no wonder he could predict that Jircniv would have sought to conspire with the Theocracy, and even the place it would occur in, as had happened at the arena years ago. "If I can see one mile ahead, this one can look tens of thousands of them." He thought to himself, but kept quiet.

Enri held those events particularly close to her heart, the day she met the magic caster was the day her parents died, the day she had to go from being just a big sister to a mother and sister both at once to raise Nemu, it was the day she was set on path to becoming a mayor and eventually a general, between she and her goblins, her husband and his alchemy...she'd become an important figure. For her, a very different line of thought came from the idle talk of the Sorcerer King. "I can never have his power, but with my army, I can imitate him, if only as a shadow." She thought to herself.

For Neia, it was as if god deigned to speak as a mortal, the notion that a god might have struggled as a mortal, might have lived as she had lived, seemed absurd, yet he spoke of himself as if he had once been a living figure instead of the unliving, and she thought...perhaps there was something to that. "By living among us once, he understands us, and in so doing, becomes our ideal ruler, able to feel our needs as if they were his own. Such is the greatness of the god of justice, only he would be great enough to come to us that way..." She thought, and as she looked around Carne, she came to consider it a sacred place, and resolved to make a pilgrimage there when the conflict was done and peace was settled.

For Leinas it was flatly bizarre, Jircniv never spoke this way around her...or anyone. She'd lived around nobility for most of her life, even as a powerful adventurer she'd been of such significance that she was frequently moving in the circles of power in the upper echelons of imperial society. Nobody...not emperor or noble, had ever been one to speak like this, and as she turned it over and over in her mind, she reached a startling conclusion. "Power...that's it. Even speaking his mind this way, whistful and reflective, he doesn't seem 'weak' or 'vulnerable' he still carries with him absolute strength...this is real power, the ability to bare a part of himself secure in the knowledge that it can never be turned against him by anyone. I thought Jircniv an absolute monarch...I was wrong...this one is." She thought.

This was how the day went, walking the area of the village that was now only called a village for nostalgia, it had obviously grown far beyond its humble roots, Ainz walked with Enri, occasionally pausing as a villager came near to pay their respects to the Sorcerer King, while also being guided as she explained the various projects she'd had undertaken in sanitation, in construction of living quarters, she lead him up to the low but thick stone walls that comprised the exterior of the village and explained how they'd put it together using his golems and undead...and the twin guidance of elf and dwarf supervisors who blended their skills in both long term thinking and in craftsmanship into something truly unique.

"...So after we heard about how your majesty created 'workshops' for E-Rantel to explain what made your administrative center unique, we chose to copy it, its not quite visible from here, but down the road we have signs posted cautioning people that they will have to attend a brief workshop hosted by one of the former elf slaves, explaining what is unique here as opposed wherever else they'd lived or traveled to before, we had a small wooden building constructed about ten minutes walk from the main gate, and we had one of our people bring back a copy of the briefing your majesty uses at E-Rantel, so that we could provide identical guidance to visitors here." Enri said, hoping to hear he was pleased with their work.

"Very good." He said, "I am pleased you have taken the initiative to improve so much." Ainz's voice contained a hint of pride and satisfaction.

Neia envied Enri more than a little in that moment, but whatever train of thought she was about to board, was interrupted when Ainz stopped walking and pointed to a man who was walking in their direction. "You, I know you...come here." Ainz said, and the man froze. Neia had a good look at him in that moment, and she recognized him as well, she couldn't fail to recognize his face, she'd memorized it thoroughly, just as she had the faces of his fellows.

The man hesitated for barely a moment, then rushed over to kneel before the Sorcerer King. "Your majesty truly remembers me?" He said softly.

"I do. You sought to help my servant." Ainz said.

Neia clapped him on the shoulder and gave him her biggest and brightest smile. "Even if he did not, I could never forget you. I remember your words as clearly as when you first spoke them. You said, "This isn't right." When the men of authority in Yanana wanted me beaten for speaking against them."

"Stand." Ainz said, "You deserve it, that could not have been an easy thing to do."

The man hesitated, but slowly rose to his feet.

"Tell me, how has life treated you, have you settled here?" Ainz asked.

The man nodded numbly, still stunned to be remembered by the King. "I have, sire. I chose to ask for a farm, since that was the work of my father, and my whole family has resettled here with me, we've got three times the land we did, but with the undead labor we were provided, we're able to work it effectively, and with the monetary support we've been given, we're able to live comfortably until the first harvest comes in."

"Do you stay in touch with your fellows?" Ainz asked with concern in his voice, "Are they also well?"

Neia was deeply moved to see him asking after the wellbeing of those who he had only met once, but who had done a kindness for one of his countless servants, nor was she alone, the man himself was nearly on the verge of tears.

"They are, sire. They chose trade work in various fields, and are happily preparing to begin the lives they asked for the chance at, except one, he chose to become a merchant, and is preparing for his first journey." The man's voice was beaming even as his eyes welled up with tears of gratitude.

"Then you were worth it." Ainz said, "As I expected you would be. You may return to your business, and do give your family my blessing, and advise your merchant friend to avoid the South for a time if he wishes to remain safe, chaos is coming."

The man bowed deeply after he stood. "I will, and thank you again your majesty." He turned to Neia, "I'm glad you're well by the way, and thank you for what you said." He smiled as he spoke to Neia, bowed politely to her, backed away a few steps, and walked off with a story he would tell for the rest of his life about his encounters with Neia & the Sorcerer King as the proudest moments of his life.

The day went quicker after that, and Emperor Jircniv couldn't help but note how...comfortable, the whole thing was, little details made the excursion a relief from palace life, the constant stress of rule was something he bore so regularly that it became almost unnoticeable after awhile, but this small venture brought a welcome release of the pressures he had no idea he had even been carrying, and when the Sun began to set, Ainz said, "This has been a true pleasure, to see the fruits of stewardship is to know its quality, you have impressed me with your foresight and ability General Enri, you will be setting a high standard for all those who come after you to meet."

Enri blushed. "I but follow your majesty's example."

Jircniv idly wondered how much talent had lived and died working the fields for want of opportunity, where inept descendents of competent nobles stumbled forward, and redoubled his commitment to educating his people, as he embraced a moment of what might be called bitterness at what the empire must surely have lost due to its past policies and indifference to the peasant class.

"I had intended to remain and hold a feast, but I should return to await the 'official' news of King Caspond's death. Emperor Jircniv, Count Yvas, I will return you to the empire for now, I will resume my tour of my domains after official word arrives, and when all is ready, I will summon command leadership together for a more official strategy meeting. Till then..." Ainz said, and then cast two gate spells.

"Long live the Sorcerer King." Count Yvas said, and stepped through the gate.

"Until then your majesty." Emperor Jircniv said, and stepped through the other gate.

Neia Baraja was no less impressed than the Sorcerer King when it came to Enri Barear. "I suppose our brief meeting must end then, I should return, I have a lot to oversee and little time to do it. However I'll make sure to send word to our headquarters to send a few instructors your way." She stuck out her hand, and Enri took it firmly and gladly. "Till we meet again, at the turning of the world." Enri said.

"At the turning of the world." Neia said, and Ainz cast his 'gate' spell twice more, allowing Neia to step through after a deep bow to the god of justice.

"At the turning of the world." Ainz said, gracing the bowing Enri with a nod, before he stepped into the gate and returned to Nazarick to await official notice of what he already knew.

What he did not expect however, was to find as he stepped into his audience chamber, that Demiurge and Albedo were kneeling before the empty throne and waiting for him. Knowing by now what they expected, he walked between the two and stepped up to his throne, he released his staff and steepled his skeletal fingers and looked down at them.

"I knew his majesty would arrive when word did, after all, it must surely have danced within the palm of his hands." Demiurge said.

"Pah! I knew it before you!" Albedo said, "And it is more like they dance as puppets on strings!" She said, a somewhat smarmy retort as Ainz...for once, thought he knew what word he was to hear.

"Of course I was expecting the news." Ainz said confidently.

"We had no doubt, your majesty." Demiurge said with a wicked smile.

"After all, who else could have brilliantly predicted the assassination of the King of Re-Estize, the kidnapping of the boy Climb, and of course, the mass kidnappings of the children of all possible opposition leaders. This will surely draw the remains of the Kingdom into a futile war, and give you at last the justification to take it over once and for all!" Albedo said with a deeply lustful and admiring voice, her entire body shaking with desire.

"Uwwaaah..." Ainz thought, his jaw falling open, thanking his luck that he returned just in time to take credit for orchestrating it all.

**AN: Well here you go, I know, I know, you're wondering what took so long, I see a few reviews and have gotten several messages asking where the next chapter in the story is, and tough patooties, you'll just have to be patient. Given the choice, I would spend all day writing these stories until they're completed, but the business of living is unmerciful sometimes. :) As it is, enjoy.**

**This story is fun, I'll probably add another chapter to this one tomorrow. Its more light hearted than the primary, and I'm in a more light hearted mood lately. So for now, well thanks for reading, and of course, please leave reviews if you enjoyed! **

**Also, to the recent reviewer from 'Training in Time' (assuming he's reading this story as well) **

**1\. Yes I was a Protestant, Southern Methodist to be precise.**

**2\. Yes I'm aware of the more complex interplay between Pope Leo, Atilla, and other significant figures of the day, however given that this is a fantasy Universe, the popular legend...which yes is a real legend about the papal encounter with Atilla...fit more into this context, and lets be realistic, angels are actually a thing in the Overlord universe, so its not like this would be unbelievable to Neia. **

**3\. 'Evolutionism' isn't a thing, but I do have a fairly extensive education in Evolutionary Theory, though it did not relate to my deconversion.**


	11. Thinking Fast

Ainz felt his mind racing like a frightened rabbit, and he covered his surprise with a cough, "Ahem, ah, yes of course, all is going according to plan."

Albedo looked at him with moony eyes, admiring and desirous, "My lord, I understand that by allowing the King to be assassinated and replaced with a new monarch in a weak political position and by allowing the potential allies heirs to be kidnapped, the Theocracy will succeed in drawing the incompetents of Re-Estize into war on their side and against us, thus giving us casus belli to invade and take over the whole country...but if you would forgive my foolish self..."

"And myself as well..." Demiurge interjected, earning a rare and grateful smile from Albedo who appreciated not being the only fool in the room not to understand their unfathomable lord...

"Neither myself nor Demiurge understand why you allowed the boy Climb to be held hostage as well. Princess Renner is already wailing, it is my understanding that we were to keep her pet safe during all of this, does this not break our word?" She asked in confusion.

Ainz laughed deeply and loudly as his mind continued to race, "Not at all," he improvised as fast as he could, "for you see, now Climb is more safe than ever. Had we guarded him directly, our guards might have been exposed, and our presence with them, they might have uncovered our dealings in Re-Estize. This way, the Slane Theocracy will guard climb closely, they will keep him as safe as they possibly can, rather than risk the princess turning on them and complicating their plans. They're doing the work for us, and we can rescue him at any time, while ALSO giving us further justification for war against the Theocracy when their actions are 'officially' made public. We have the moral high ground." Ainz looked at them both pointedly. "But I must ask...you DID have agents monitoring them silently did you not?"

The pair looked at each other and kept their eyes deeply downcast. "My lord I regret to say that our weak minds are so far behind your own, that we did not see or know the depths of your plan, truly your wisdom is far beyond ourselves. We regularly visit the palace, but we have not monitored the pet or several other figures." Demiurge said, he and Albedo shared a deeply troubled look, they were both sweating bullets. For them, failure to their master was the very worst of sins, and the trauma of the loss of all the other supreme beings was such that they lived in terror that if they disappointed the last of the supreme ones, their great lord...that he might give up on them and leave as well. They swallowed hard.

Ainz leaned back in his throne, put his skeletal hand over his face and sighed heavily, thinking, "I truly am a terrible boss. I so hate to make them think they've disappointed me...but better that than to shatter their perceptions."

From their perspective he appeared sorely disappointed in them, and Albedo quickly spoke up, "My lord, I sincerely apologize for not seeing the true depths of your thoughts, and I...we...apologize for our failure. Command us to atone with our lives, and it will be done!" She said, frantic tone lacing her words.

Ainz shook his head, "Think nothing of it, the fault was mine for not sharing my plans with you, I assumed it was...obvious." He looked down at them from his throne, "Well no matter, they lack the means to instantly transport themselves, so they will be on the road some time, simply find them, that shouldn't be beyond you, find and follow them, but do not interfere. When the time comes, we will rescue the heirs and the boy Climb, and we will be the heroes of Re-Estize who saved their loved ones and indeed their very houses, from being rendered extinct by the Slane Theocracy. When the rescue is done, whatever armies the more reluctant commanders have left can be turned against the real supporters of the Slane Theocracy. Now...this I will make clear to you...when the time comes to engage these armies, identify ones lead by men who are acting because their families are hostages...and take the fight easy on them. While by contrast, be harsh with the armies of those who have joined with the Theocracy by choice, this way when one side turns upon the other, the fight will be one sided. Also, ensure we have dopplegangers prepared to take the place of the hostages so that the Slane Theocracy is none wiser when we free the captives. Let it come as a total shock when their allies turn upon them." Ainz steepled his hands together as he leaned in, using diabolical pose number three.

"Yes my lord! We will not disappoint you!" They snapped in unison, and immediately rushed out to carry out his orders.

It was later that day when offical word was delivered of the death of King Caspond, and Ainz duly drafted a message of deep condolences to the people of the Southern Holy Kingdom, who had endured so much hardship, only to lose the last scion of the old dynasty.

_...In the palace of Re-Estize..._

Renner alternated between screaming and crying, none of her maids had ever seen her like this, but she was beside herself, calling out for Climb as if he were still there and tearing at her hair, her eyes were the core of madness and her breathing was heavy as a predatory beast in a long chase, she swore that she would punish the Slane Theocracy, she would stand over the battered bodies of the cardinals, they would suffer then thousand screams for every scratch they put on her Climb, and gods preserve them if he died. She had immediately dispatched a desperate message to Albedo, reporting what had been done in a way that only the traumatized can convey, Albedo had promised to speak with her master, and instructed her to wait alone in her room until a representative approached her.

That seemed to take forever, but in reality was only the briefest of periods, and it was Albedo herself who came into Renner's chamber.

Renner could barely bring herself to the necessary presence of mind to kneel, but she managed...barely, and she pleaded immediately to the succubus, "Well...what says the master?" Her words quivered in desperation.

Albedo shook her head, she couldn't fault the woman for not concluding what she herself had not grasped, and she said, "Truly my master is ever the genius, such that I have failed once again to grasp his intent."

Renner looked deeply hopeful and very confused.

Albedo continued, "As long as Climb remained here, he remained a target of assassination to get to you during the inevitable war, our lord however, in his infinite wisdom, concluded that Climb was far safer as a 'hostage' which they would desperately protect in order to maintain leverage and influence over you. In short, his greatest threat is now his most absolute security, he is making them do the work, and when the time is right he will be plucked away from his captors and returned safely to you, when it is time to turn the tables. You have, before your present madness, concluded the same as we have, I hope?" She asked.

Renner's calculating eyes returned as she gained comfort from the knowledge of Climb's safety. "I did, I would not be their sole target, they also killed my father," her voice was coldly indifferent at that statement, "and I have no doubt that they also targeted anyone who would impede the push to join with them. My brother will inherit, but he will be far to weak politically and the royal faction backing him will have to keep the kidnapping's secret as well as support the pro-war faction that joins with the Slane Theocracy." Renner's breathing eased more and more..."But mistress," She said, "How can I cope without my puppy, is there nothing I can do to even see him?"

Albedo was about to snap at her, however she was moved in a rare moment, likely due to her recent terror about Lord Ainz's disappointment in them and the thought of his leaving them, and she instead in a measured voice said, "Go along with their plans for now, your brother is not a complete idiot, he will eventually understand that one kidnapping means another, and that the king's death is not coincidence. Serve us well during this time, and I will provide you an item that allows you to see your Climb intermittently, after he's arrived at his holding area. Then when we are ready to turn the tables, convince your brother to offer his Kingdom as a vassal state in exchange for security on his throne and both defense from and revenge on the Slane Theocracy."

Renner nodded, awed at the towering intellect of Ainz Ooal Gown, who saw so far down the line of events to come. She felt like a rank idiot at the moment, and prayed she could be useful within her own limitations, a sentiment she was unaware that the other guardians shared whole heartedly.

_...On the road..._

"Who the hell are you? Where are you taking me?!" Climb snapped out as the cart raced along the road in the dark. He was bound hand and feet, and chained far to tightly for any martial art he knew to help him escape. He spoke more quietly this time, the last two times he'd shouted, and they'd knocked him out again, this time when he regained consciousness, he had the sense to speak emphatically but not loudly, hoping for a different outcome.

As the wheels bounced along the not well to well maintained road, their rattling providing a constant ambient noise, and the man at the head of the cart stared straight ahead, several more men around him raised torches over his face and looked down at him. "Awake again are you?" One of them said.

"Learned your lesson about making noise by now then." Another said with a laugh. Climb kept his mouth shut.

"I'll take that as a yes." Another said. "Short version, you're in a cart, coming with us, and who we are doesn't really matter, you're a hostage. Cooperate, and you won't have to change places with Princess Renner."

Climb tried to imagine his beloved Princess Renner in his position, and he shivered at the thought of it, nodding numbly. The man was bluffing, but Climb didn't know that, or need to know that, as far as they were concerned.

"Good lad," the same man said, "for what it's worth, you're not going to be harmed, you're far to important, you're here because the princess holds some affection for you, and as long as you're held in safe custody with us, she won't get in our way. That means you're to important to kill. Probably a first for you eh?" He said with a laugh. Climb stayed silent, and not just because he didn't find it humorous.

"Just bear with it for the duration of the war, then after we've won you'll be turned loose." He said amiably.

"You really think you'll win?" Climb asked softly, and incredulously. "You're doomed, you're walking dead men." He said with absolute certainty. "Don't you know what the Sorcerer King is capable of?!" He exclaimed in a soft hoarse voice.

The man laughed, "Oh I've heard the stories. But they're just that, stories."

Climb shook his head, "No, they're not. I was THERE, I was AT the battle...no...the Massacre of the Katze Plains. I was as close to the Sorcerer King as you are to me right now. I saw him cast a spell, I saw seventy thousand men and beasts die in an instant, I saw monsters rise from the ground after consuming the dead, and kill a hundred thousand more, then I watched him duel with Gazef Stronoff who was wearing the great treasures of the Kingdom. He simply willed Gazef to die, and he died, Gazef fell dead into the Sorcerer King's arms in an instant, he said it was a 9th tier spell, I asked about that...nobody...not even the six great gods, were said to use spells of that power."

The man shrugged, "I don't believe you, why would he let you live, if that were true?"

"I was with Gazef, he seemed to have had some familiarity with the Sorcerer King, the latter saved his life is how I heard it, and he respected the Chief Warrior, so he let myself and Brain Unglauss live to take his body home, and he stopped the massacre allowing the rest of the people to flee." Climb swallowed, it was a dark memory and more than once the bleating of sheep haunted his nightmares.

The man looked at Climb's face.

"Look at me." Climb said, "Look closely, do you see lies in my eyes."

The man kept his eyes on him, and slowly shook his head. "Doesn't matter, we have our own secret weapons and we will bring him down with those." The man said.

Climb sighed, and resigned himself to a long captivity, but he didn't bother to vow revenge, he doubted very much these men would live long enough for him to get to them when all was said and done.

_...Kami Miyako..._

Zeshi was pissed, and she let the cardinals know it.

"You made WHAT kind of deal with that thing?!" She raged. "I ought to resign right now, I ought to go over to the Sorcerer Kingdom and offer to side with him, he'll give me a chance at that bastard father of mine!" She screamed and slammed her scythe down on the table where they sat, severing the sturdy table apart as if she were tearing paper. "You promised you'd make him pay for what he did to create me!" She snarled, "I should fucking kill you all for this."

"Wouldn't you rather kill him?" Dominic asked.

That got Zeshi's attention. "What?" She said.

"The elf Kingdom is not the least bit loyal to the elf King. What's more, he's going to be conveniently in reach for quite some time. It doesn't matter what deal we made with him, because he's never going to get a chance to take us up on it." Dominic continued.

"Go on." Zeshi said, "I'm listening."

"He'll go with us, he'll fight, he's strong enough to do some serious damage, and when things are over and done with, you can simply kill him before he can take us up on our 'offer'. Unless you don't think you can defeat him?" Dominic said, certain of what words would tweak her the most.

"Oh I can, and I will kill him." She snarled.

"Good. Then its no problem then is it? All this means is you kill him at a different location than in his throne room, and that he'll come to you instead of you going to him, doesn't it?" Dominic asked.

Zeshi frowned. "I suppose, but you should have told me first."

"Maybe, but just remember, you'll also get to fight the servants of the Sorcerer King along the way, and those promise to be some very powerful foes." Berenice said.

Zeshi grinned...finally, much to the cardinal's collective relief. "True, perhaps I will find one worth having a child with." She said, prompting a long suffering roll of the eyes of every cardinal familiar with what they considered to be her bizarre proclivities.

_...In Nazarick..._

When Ainz finished and dispatched his condolences to the Holy Robel Kingdom, he made quick preparations to depart again, he summoned Leinas to him again, and opened up another 'Gate'. When he stepped through, he found himself in a nearby swamp, but not mired in the muck, instead he and Leinas looked around, and saw an unusual statue representation of Ainz himself. "My lord, where are we?" Leinas asked curiously.

"We are in the village of the lizardmen." Ainz replied. "Have you ever encountered them before?" He asked.

"Only once." She admitted, "A traveler bearing a blade of ice, many years ago. I always wondered what happened to him." She said with passing curiosity.

"Well, then your curiosity is about to be satisfied, I believe he lives here, unless there is another copy of 'Frost Pain' at large in the world." He looked around in the darkness, "Perhaps I should have come in the morning, it looks as if nobody is awake." He said, only to have his words proved false when an albino lizard woman saw him and stopped dead in her tracks. She paused only for a moment, then rushed over to him and threw herself at his feet. "My lord, Crusch Lulu welcomes you to our village, and begs to know how she may serve your will."

Ainz felt a moment's gratitude for his skeletal frame, that he could neither blush nor role his eyes at this attention. "Rise, and know that you may serve me by guiding us while I am here, I would like to see what fruit is growing from the tree of my contribution to your lives." He said.

When she stood, he gestured to Leinas. "This is my bodyguard, Leinas Rockbruise, a recent addition to our forces." Leinas looked at the lizard woman, they were of very dissimilar heights, where Leinas was tall and upright, Crusch was almost half her height and stooped ever so slightly forward, they were bizarre opposites, yet she could see a keen intelligence in the red eyes and at least some amount of magic power.

"A pleasure to meet you Crusch." Leinas said, inclining her head slightly in greeting.

"And you." Crusch replied in turn.

Crusch returned her attention to the Sorcerer Kig, "Your majesty, surely you have more to do than to visit our humble village, we can scarcely offer the hospitality that your station is deserving of?" She said.

Ainz dismissed the concern with a nonchalant shrug, "If you do what you can, I can ask no more of you. I am touring all of my realms, yours is next on the list. Now, can you take us to your husband?" He asked in a way that was definitely more courtesy phrasing than true request.

She turned red in surprise, "Yes, yes of course your majesty, please, follow me." She said.

**AN: This was going to be a lot longer, doing a complete tour of the Lizardman village, but I'm tired today and I figured I'd leave y'all with something to read, and just do another chapter tomorrow to detail the rest of it. Reviews welcome of course.**


	12. Scales of War & Peace

Zaryusu wasn't alone in his hut, his albino lizardman child was on the floor playing when Crusch moved the flap aside and entered, still red faced. Her expression brought him jumping to his feat and reaching for Frost Pain...but he dropped it and fell prostrate on his face as the Sorcerer King entered, glad he dropped it quickly so that it would not appear that he was bearing arms against his ruler.

"Majesty, had I known you were coming I would have prepared a reception for you!" He said hurriedly. Though the passage of time had eased the bitterness of defeat, and the Sorcerer King's largess in supplying, expanding, teaching, and growing the prosperity of his people had eased it further...and his generous resurrection of Zaryusu's brother hadn't hurt either...the at the core of his being there was still an element of fear at seeing a being so overwhelmingly supreme up close and personal. Such casual power was remaking the world, and he knew quite well he should definitely not be in that being's way.

Ainz waved his hand in dismissal, "Think nothing of it, I prefer not to stand on ceremony today, I am merely touring my realms and speaking with the common people and the leaders of my various domains, though what needs to be said is not for all ears, for now, let it be enough that I see what value has come from the investment in time, labor, magic, and money has been brought forth by your people, now rise, and...show me around...after finding someone to mind your child of course" He said in a noble voice that became somewhat whimsical as he asked to be shown around like a tourist.

Zaryusu scrambled to his feet and rushed to his infant, "As your majesty says." Zaryusu replied as he took up the young male. The little one squalled a bit, and Zaryusu looked over to the back of the hut where his wife still stood. He was about to ask her to mind him, when Ainz interrupted, "I wish to have you both accompany me, you are leaders here, and when all is done I wish to inform you of momentous events about to shake the foundations of this world, events in which you will have key roles."

Curious and awed expressions formed on their faces, but beneath that lay troubled minds and anxious hearts. "That however, can wait until later, though they approach with swiftness, we have time to see the fruits of prosperous peace." He said, and turned to gesture to the door out of their humble hut, Leinas stood waiting outside, silent and immobile with sword out and tip buried in the path, her eyes constantly watching for any trouble. Though she had never killed, and never fought, lizardmen, she had fought and killed demihumans before. An unknown type presented unknown challenges, and therefore she was wary of these unfamiliar creatures.

For all her wariness however, there seemed to be nothing to be wary OF. She saw simple huts with numerous small lizardman children running and playing on the many pathways, the huts were set on poles above the swamp, and the walls were simple earth piles with wooden spikes driven in to them...but at the same time, it was obvious that little care had been paid to the walls in some time, the wood was rotted from the swamp and had not been replaced, some poles had obviously been removed, leaving many gaps along the way. Her eyes narrowed as she thought about the implications of that. You don't build a wall like that unless you need it, and you don't stop maintaining it unless you don't need it anymore.

That meant that at some point they had fought an enemy, then they had lost, and now they were safe. Pieces of the puzzle came together in her mind as she picked the Sorcerer King as the only possible fight they could have had in years, which means after he defeated them, he chose not to exterminate them. Having abundant familiarity with slaughter and finding it to be thoroughly disgusting, it was a position she approved of. That was only a small piece of the larger puzzle she was putting together. She saw many lizardmen and women, supported by the undead, dredging muck up from the swamp and taking it to areas where others were hammering poles into place close together and binding them securely. She saw the way this created deeper areas farther away...while creating new land above the swamp elsewhere. It was an ingeneous innovation, as she looked around, she saw that there were a number already completed, and whats more, she saw the way the people who lived here were fishing in the deeper areas...creating not just new land, but new food sources to feed their growing population. Peace had indeed been prosperous for these people.

When the Sorcerer King exited, she stayed silent and waited direction, the large male rushed away briefly, and came back with an even larger behemoth of a lizardman, who oddly enough, took the small albino infant after a few short words and entered the hut from which the Sorcerer King had just come.

Leinas waited until the trio passed her by and then she took her place behind them, listening curiously while eyes scanned constantly.

"You've elevated more of the village since last I came here." Ainz said matter of factly.

"Yes my lord, we've used the techniques you gave us to build up land for new living quarters, and we've even built most of the covered road you mentioned two years ago, linking us to the toadman tribe that surrendered after us, and also nearly completing the link to the main...what did you call it sire...highway?" Zaryusu said.

"The wide road?" Ainz asked. Zaryusu nodded.

"Yes, highway." Ainz answered. "When that is completed you'll have easy travel throughout my realm, and the wealth of trade will flow to you like wind over water. How are the dwarves and quoga working out?" He asked.

"Very well sire." Crusch answered, "I handle many of the dealings between them, they're not especially fond of one another, but their talents complement one another flawlessly, the dwarves oversee the complex calculations, erect long term support structures, but good as they are at digging, the quoga far surpass them, tearing into the earth and rock like we can walk through the swamp. With your majesty's magic sustaining our efforts and ensuring the stability of our structures against the elements, our children in ten thousand years may use the roads we build today."

"Speaking of children," Ainz said, "how is your young one?" his voice carried the collector's curiosity, and she, with a mother's pride that reminded Ainz of his own mother said...

"He grows as he should, he is a very curious child, and very active. We have great expectations for him. Still a little young to be away from us...but always stopping to question the dwarves, quoga, and any travelers who venture to our home." Ainz detected a hint of protectiveness in her, as if she feared he might take her child away and so exercised care to phrase it so that his remaining with her was necessary.

"Well that is good, we'll have to have someone from the mage's guild come and see if he has an aptitude for magic, if he does, I will see that a seat is reserved for him when he comes of age." Ainz said.

"Your majesty is generous." She said politely, with the instinctive anxiety of a mother thinking of her child's departure.

"Just make sure you remain worth of it." Ainz said, "Generosity should beget itself, else it is wasted."

"I shall engrave your majesty's words onto my heart and onto the heart of my child and my people." She replied fervently.

As they went out beyond the wall, Ainz pointed to a series of huts under construction. "What are those for?" He asked.

"Those sire, are for our increased population." Zaryusu replied. "In the past, your majesty is aware we suffered a terrible famine, yes?" He asked.

"I have heard of it, yes." He replied.

"That was the worst of them, but it was not the only time we suffered food shortages, and it was routine for our children to suffer or die early, with all these changes over the years, our numbers have greatly rebounded and my wife and I realized we would quickly overgrow our current boundaries, therefore we're constructing additional homes. We have also seen an influx of frogmen migrating this way as they build their own roads close to us, with peace between us at last, we see the old live on and the young living to grow to adulthood, so...we need more space." Zaryusu said.

"Good." Ainz said, "I am glad to see that I am fulfilling my promise to my people."

Zaryusu did a double take when Ainz said 'my' people, and was deeply moved as he understood that Ainz was speaking of them all as a part of his nation and not merely subject to it, the measure of loyalty in his heart grew in that moment.

"How is the education of the population going?" Ainz asked.

"Our literacy rate is now very high. All the of age children and most of the adults can now read and write, and since we no longer need to put everyone to work harvesting or rebuilding what the swamp destroys, we find we have time to increase our learning. We will be ready to send the first generation of students to Nazarick for higher learning soon, and our library holds a small number of texts that we rotate out through Cocytus when he comes to inspect our work and deliver news or instructions or collect our portion of tribute." Zaryusu said. "It was truly an innovative idea to create a building where anyone could just borrow and return a text, and to establish it in connection with your majesty's own amazing library so that there would always be new material...marvelous." His expression was hard for Ainz to read, but his voice carried abundant enthusiasm.

"Thank you." Ainz said, "In time as I establish more of these 'lending libraries' I will establish ties between them and a system of exchange so that they cooperate with one another, allowing readers in one city to find which other library has content that their own lacks, and request it, so that book cycling includes special requests, nobody should ever lack for books of whimsy or wisdom, in my ideal land."

Zaryusu and Crusch bowed their heads deeply, and resumed leading Ainz around the outer area of the village. "Over here," Zaryusu pointed to an enclosed area spanning roughly an acre, interspersed throughout it were a series of pillars and a complex array of holes mirrors, and chutes were being connected from one floor to the next, with dwarves supervising lizardman labor as skeletons carried construction material, "we are building a tiered farm, per the design your majesty gave to us, through this tiered system we can feed numerous people and supplement our diets without the same expansive space needed for fisheries. Next to that," he pointed to a place that was already drained and which numerous skeletons were excavating, with the dirt underneath being carried away in baskets to expand the area of above swamp area for housing, "we are establishing a reservoir, with your majesty's magic, we will create a water purification system that will feed the crops, and when the enclosure is completed, again with your majesty's magic, we will be able to keep the weather constant without impacting the rest of our environment, and thus grow crops all year round. This not only increases our food supply for our population, but frees up more for trade."

"And how is trade flowing?" Ainz asked curiously.

"Lightly at the moment." Zaryusu said with disappointment. "Until the main roads are completed, we have to make do with the more adventurous merchants, who are yet few."

"Are there any in particular you care to deal with?" Ainz asked.

Crusch nodded enthusiastically. "Several sire."

"Very well, later I will have some favorable trade documents drawn up allowing some exclusive rights for a handful of years to the merchants you designate, this will give them a short term advantage in building their organizations up, the condition being that they will partner with lizardman merchants from among you who wish to venture into the wider world, so that you may send your own merchants out and not be dependent heavily on others for your provision." Ainz said, thinking back on his lessons in history and how unbalanced trading relationships lead to economic oppression and dependency.

"Sire, we haven't the wealth to send out our own even when the road is completed." Zaryusu protested.

Ainz waved that objection away, "I will extend a small loan to a few such lizardmen who wish to work themselves hard and build up an enterprise. Thus they will have the means to begin to trade...though before doing so I will establish an apprenticeship system allowing them to begin learning before the road is complete. Have a few volunteers report to Cocytus, I will select a few honest merchants willing to pass on their knowledge to young entrepreneurs."

Zaryusu and Crusch looked at one another in shock as the Sorcerer King casually overthrew every fear and created a whole new system of prosperity in front of their eyes. His godlike status was elevated in their eyes as they nodded numbly.

It did not take as long to tour the village as it did to tour anywhere else thus far, and eventually they found themselves at the statue of him that the village had built after their surrender.

"I've always liked that statue." Ainz said politely, "Not exactly my likeness, but it has an artistic flare that represents the culture it comes from, the artist is to be commended."

"I'm sure he will be pleased to hear your majesty's praise." Zaryusu said.

"Perhaps it is overdue to reward him, but I would still like to do so, please pass on to the artist that if he wishes to study at the artisan school in the Baharuth Empire, I will sponsor his time there." Ainz said casually.

"I-I will ensure he receives your generous offer your majesty." Crusch said.

Ainz stepped forward and turned around to face them. "I will be blunt, this tour has another purpose."

"Majesty?" They said together.

"A war is fast approaching. You are familiar with the Slane Theocracy?" Ainz asked Zaryusu.

The lizardman's eyes grew bitter. "I am. They hate us."

"They hate me too." Ainz said, "And they are spoiling for a fight with their actions against my Kingdom."

Zaryusu and Crusch shared a shocked look. "Can they be so foolish, do they not know of your power sire?" Zaryusu asked in dumbfounded disbelief.

"They are fanatics, they will act anyway." Ainz said with a shake of his head. "Foolish, I know, but they are used to winning, and overestimate their gods support of them."

"Will your majesty obliterate them with your magic then?" Crusch asked, and her face went into shock when Ainz shook his head.

"No, instead I will 'trade' away the use of my most powerful spells in exchange for certain concessions on how war is to be fought, they will not enslave captives, they will accept surrenders, they will not destroy houses of worship or nonmilitary targets, they will give medical aid to the wounded, and a few other details, each condition that they accept will have me refrain from one tier of magic use. I will instead wage a more conventional war." Ainz said.

"But...why sire?" Zaryusu asked in a voice as surprised as that of his wife.

"I have several chief aims in this conflict. The first is to establish that I do not simply rule by terror, that my subjects prosper, grow strong, and will fight to protect the kingdom. The second is to show to all my subjects the power of true unity, where demihuman, heteromorph, and human, all offer balance to one another's strengths and weaknesses, when they are as fingers on a hand, closed into a unified fist, there is nothing they cannot accomplish. This will unite all our people into one body. Lizardman, human, even vampire, will come together in one whole as brothers and sisters. Third, I will show the Slane Theocracy...and all others, that it is not only my magic that makes me dangerous to cross, by outfighting them at every turn, by gaining total victory without the nead to lay waste to their cities, I will establish a victory that completely crushes their spirit of resistance. Last but not least, this presents an opportunity for mercy, to display our moral superiority as a kingdom and not simply show that we dominate by mass death. If and when they break the terms of the deal I will offer to them, it will be their own fault that I have unleashed magic beyond their understanding."

The pair nodded in understanding, they were the wisest of their number, and grasped his goals as he ticked them off on his boney fingers.

"What may we do to assist then sire?" Zaryusu asked.

"I ask for volunteers among the lizardmen and toadmen who live here, they will constitute a part of an army, and you, Zaryusu, will be placed at its head as a general." Ainz said.

Zaryusu's jaw dropped.

"Sire even if half of both our populations departed, we could not even constitute a single legion equal to what the Baharuth Empire fields." Crusch said.

"That is not all your husband will command. I will be visiting the dwarven homeland and calling for quoga and dwarf volunteers as well, then I will be visiting E-Rantel and asking for volunteers among the adventurer's guild, and calling for volunteers from among the peasant class. All of these together will be placed under Zaryusu's command, when all is said and done you should have some twenty thousand soldiers under your name and bearing my banner." Ainz said, sending their minds reeling as they grasped the scale of what he was raising.

"Will that be enough?" Zaryusu asked softly.

"I am also raising the Empire's legions and they have already begun to march to the capitol, I will be using an army of goblins and volunteers from Carne Village, to be commanded by General Enri, Leinas," Ainz gestured to his bodyguard, "will be commanding force I raise from among my undead and from the Abelion Hills, and Neia Baraja will be commanding the legions of Black Justice members into a unified force. There will be four armies marching South, eventually to become five and if all goes well, six...and in turn we will be facing the Slane Theocracy, the Roble Holy Kingdom, the Elf Kingdom, and the Re-Estize Kingdom, or at least part of it."

The trio swallowed, and the two lizardman leaders looked to Leinas who looked with equally wide eyes back at them as the Sorcerer King accounted for the scale of the war to come. It would be a war of legends. Zaryusu knelt suddenly and bowed his head, "I accept your majesty's charge." He said firmly. "I ask only that you take care of my family should I fall in your service."

"It will be done, though I will do what I can to ensure that you do not fall." Ainz said nobly.

"And what of myself sire." Crusch said softly.

"You will rule this region as a governor, I will incorporate the entirety of the toadman and lizardman region into one administrative area, you will report only to Cocytus or myself and have full rule to the borders of the dwarf dominated mountains and the Baharuth Empire." Ainz said, and she knelt next to her husband, with head bowed beside him.

"I accept your majesty's charge." She said humbly, "I will strive to fulfill your expectations."

"Good. See that you gather the roster of volunteers within the week, for now, I close my visit with a feast." He said, and he opened a gate and had his servants bring forth copious amounts of food and drink, runners were dispatched to call for toadmen and by early evening there was laughing and drinking and toasting and eating, a sea of fish must have been consumed that day, with Nazarick providing varieties never before seen, and the lizardmen proved to be connoisseurs of marine life, critiquing the many varieties enthusiastically as the evening wore on, at last as torches still burned bright in the evening Ainz allowed himself to fly several feet into the air and call for the attention of his many subjects.

"Hail to you my subjects!" He said loudly, "I visited this day to see that you were worthy of being ruled, and to see that you were ruled well, and I am proud to say that both expectations are MORE than met! You prosper, which is my desire, and the fulfillment of my promise, your loyalty in my service has been beyond question, and I am proud to call you my people! Yet trials remain on the horizon, tests of strength and will and cunning, which will lay the foundation of all our futures! I know that you will meet these trials, and that you will make your ancestors proud of you, as well as your many heirs, may they be more numerous than the stars! Though I must leave with more work ahead of me, know that my work ensures the security and prosperity of all, and that you are never far from my thoughts, even when my body is far from you!"

Cheers and raised cups greeted the conclusion of his speech, and he descended to the ground. "Long live the Sorcerer King!" Leinas shouted.

"Long may he reign!" the crowd shouted back, as Ainz created a gate, and walked through, with Leinas following quickly behind him.

Dancing and singing went long into the night, but Zaryusu and Crusch had to much on their minds to drink as they went off to find privacy.

"You're leaving me again." Crusch said softly. "Soon."

Zaryusu nodded. "I am, but by need, never by desire." He said.

"Please do not let me receive your body, I couldn't bear to lose you again." She said, "Perhaps I could ask that the Sorcerer King allow me to come with you...?" She began, and Zaryusu shook his head to cut off that thought.

"Even if he said yes, I would implore you to say, for our child's sake and to ensure our people are all well ruled." He said softly, his voice catching slightly with emotion.

"So you're asking me to watch you put yourself into harms way again?" She asked with resignation.

"Please forgive this selfish male his foolish request, but grant it." He said as he reached out and took her hand.

"Then there is only one thing to do." She said as she raised her eyes to his.

"There is?" He asked.

"Yes." She said firmly, "Get me pregnant."

Zaryusu was enthusiastic in obliging her, but apart from their passionate embrace, beyond them there was singing and laughter, a very different atmosphere from the eve of their defeat years before when Ainz had first ended Zaryusu's life and defeated the lizardman alliance. Crusch, in her more clear headed state later, could not help but think that this was a preferred atmosphere for expanding their family, than the previous one was in which their family had begun. But she was not 'clear headed' again for many hours, around the time of the Sun's rising.

**AN: Well I know some of you have been really impatient, I know, I know, you wanted it two days ago, but give me a break, its tax season and between my nonprofit organization, my private employment, rental property, and so on, taxes were a bitch to do, plus my other writing project and the general business of living. Heh...I think I might have spoiled y'all a bit with my comparatively rapid update schedule relative to other writers over here. I do hope you manage to get by when the overall story is done, because aside from a one shot or two, I don't have another one planned after 'God Rising' is over, after that I have a completely different project to focus on. Anyway, hope you liked the work, I guess I'm the literary version of a stripper on a basic cable movie, always teasing and keeping you waiting for more. ;) You'll live. Expect another few chapters from this one and the end of the Queen in the Sword before I return to 'God Rising'. After these two offshoots are over, 'God Rising' will kick into high gear and that will be the only story up to the end.**


	13. The Light of the Undercity

"Shit shit shit shit shit!" That was what the dwarf was thinking when the gate opened in front of him, and he repeated that exact same series of thoughts when the undead King stepped through, he almost froze, but had just enough awareness and self control to drop to one knee before the one undead that every dwarf in the known world was bound to recognize on sight. He was their liege, the patron of their sacred craft, the savior of their civilization, nobody under the mountain did not know his name or face, but to be in front of him was still a terror, gratitude or no.

Leinas stepped through the portal behind the Sorcerer King and looked around, it was the entrance to a cave, however it was worn smooth from careful chipping and polishing, nothing crude, it was modified by skilled craftsmen. The guard was a dwarf clad in runecrafted armor and bearing a sword of the same art, this was no surprise to Leinas, after all she knew some time ago that the Sorcerer King had shown favor to this particular dwarven art so it was no surprise to see that they made use of it themselves.

"Hello." Ainz Ooal Gown said, somewhat awkwardly as it was clear the dwarf was to flustered to speak.

"H-Hail the Sorcerer King!" The dwarf said with eyes wide, staring, and terrified.

Ainz raised his skeletal hand, and the dwarf shook, "Be at ease." Ainz said, "I am not displeased with you, however I would like to see the council."

It was just at that moment that another armored and armed dwarf approached, evidently his colleague, and no sooner than he saw Ainz than the dwarf dropped to one knee and snapped out, "Hail the Sorcerer King!" with martial crispness.

"Rise, both of you, I'd like to be seen to the council, would one of you be so kind as to escort me?" He asked in his disconcertingly noble voice.

"I will, sire." The newly arrived dwarf said, much to the relief of the first one. "Please, follow me." He said, and he lead the way into the cavernous opening.

Dwarven tunnels were not at all the crude things that people imagined of cave dwellings, they kept the caves well lit, so that it was as if they were walking in daylight. The pathways were smoothed out so that one wouldn't trip over an errant stone, where canyons and deep crevices were present, well built railings were put into place to ensure a safe walk through would not be brought to an abrupt halt by a misplaced step. Dwarves, Leinas noticed, also seemed to be more artistic than she'd been lead to believe by their reputations, though not every inch of the cavern was decorated with carvings, there were many of them, displaying scenes of stories in carvings that had then been carefully painted.

"Excuse me." Leinas asked the dwarf in front of them, "May I ask about all the painted carvings cut into the rock?"

The dwarf looked back and shrugged, "Sure. Its practice. Mining can be rough hard work sure, but there are times when a more precision touch is needed, and by chipping into the rock like that, the students learning the mining craft get practice, as for painting, well some people just like art." He answered simply. Leinas felt her mind crack open just a bit, she realized she'd been thinking of other races as monolithic, just individuals that were otherwise identical to one another, without differing personalities...but they varied as much as humans did, having their own desires, natures, preferences, tastes, and so on. It was an uncomfortable moment for her, and as she looked at the Sorcerer King's back, she wanted to slap herself. He was vastly different from other undead, why shouldn't one dwarf be different from another dwarf? She quietly resolved to be more open minded in the future. As she looked at her King however, she could not help but be impressed, he clearly already knew about all that, so he must have already taken the time to learn about the peoples he ruled. 'It is no wonder Jircniv gave in to him. He truly is a supreme ruler.' She said softly.

As Ainz listened he casually thought, 'So that explains all those painted carvings...huh...neat.'

As they walked, they eventually came across a group of skeletons going in and out of a tunnel. The dwarf turned his head to look over his shoulder. "We are making ample use of your majesty's undead laborers, so much so that dwarf miners now get three days off in seven, with ample leisure time, we've put more effort into other endeavors."

"Such as?" Ainz asked.

"Why three fifths of life." The dwarf said, "Refining and expanding our beer production." He grinned widely. "As the sale of our beer has gone international thanks to the trade routes established by your majesty, we've had to ramp up production, and skeletons are not really suited for beer production, its an artisan's work to produce lovingly, not at all like the rote raising and lowering of a pick ax. We're now producing much more than we ever did before and at a much lower cost thanks to your majesty's instruction on indoor growing."

Ainz touched his skeletal finger to his chin, "I had planned to visit the council first, but I would actually prefer a tour of the domain first. After we encounter one of your comrades, have them send word to the council that I will be visiting them after touring the area. But for now, please lead on and tell me more."

"Of course sire." The dwarf said, stroking a fire red beard that drapped almost to the waist and was immaculately, even lovingly maintained. "We're actually not far from the growing areas, we make use of the deep chasms that the mountain has given us." He pointed to a nearby stairway cut into the very rock and secured against mishap by a long waist high rail. A gate blocked off the stairway, but it was unlocked, the dwarf lifted the latch and walked through, Leinas moved up and grabbed the gate to hold it open, and the Sorcerer King began to follow the dwarf down the steps, behind her, Leinas heard the gate close on its own and the latch resecure itself. They walked down what seemed a thousand steps the great chasm opened up enormously and she looked behind her, though everything was well lit by the glowing white stones, she could scarcely believe what she was seeing, the pit was easily the deepest she had ever beheld, bigger than any canyon she'd come across. It was a truly awe inspiring sight, the stone wall the stairs had been carved into had been cut flat and polished smooth, she wondered how much time had gone in to making it this way.

Eventually they reached the bottom, and they found themselves presented with a stone footpath which moved away from the stairs, and branched off periodically, guiding people around the crops.

"As your majesty can see, we favor the growth of mushrooms, we use the compost methods your majesty taught us to create rich soil," he started walking down the path pointing to the many tiers of mushroom growing troughs, "and this is in turn supported by moisture from these sluices, the water comes mostly from melted snow from above, we drilled holes in the mountain leading up, and created a collection point where snow would fall or water would run, and that passes through pipes and is allowed to just 'fall' into the collection point above the troughs, and then it runs along and some of the water falls through small holes to land in the troughs, as you can see, they go in a zigzag pattern downwards until they come to the lowest level where the last of the water falls, excess that collects unused at the end is carried by skeleton labor to be deposited into another chasm to create an artificial lake, it is nowhere near finished yet, but when it is, not only will we have a place to swim, but we intend to buy fish from the lizardmen, along with some other plant and insect life to keep it balanced, and we will supplement our diet further."

The dwarf said all this with great pride in his voice, they then came to a wheel that was turning as the water pushed it, "Oh and how could I forget this, yes as the water moves to the collection point it turns this wheel, which raises platforms that we call 'elevators' allowing dwarves to rise up to the upper tiered platforms where we grow food, and easily harvest what we have." He grinned like a child and walked over to one of the troughs, he pulled a lever built into the side wall next to the tier and a sheet of metal slid out, he stepped on it, and waited. The mechanism for the lift must have been built into the thin box like wall next to the troughs, and then he began to rise, soon he was four tiers up, and he stepped off the slow moving platform, and it slid off onto the upper floor. The dwarf took his time and walked over to the edge, leaned over, and waved down to the Sorcerer King and Leinas, and they gingerly waved back. After a moment, he returned to the platform point, waited until it came back up, slid it into the security point that held it, stepped on, and let himself be lowered back to the ground, where he pulled the lever and something came out, grabbed the platform, and pulled it back into place.

"Ingenious." The Sorcerer King said. "Your people deserve their reputation for engineering." The dwarf bowed deeply. "Thank you sire."

"It is though...a bit rude and inconvenient to be just thinking of you as 'dwarf' you have a name I trust, please provide it." The Sorcerer King asked...or commanded.

The dwarf, still bowing, said, "I am Himiline, one of the dwarf warriors guarding the East entrance."

"Very well, Himiline." Ainz said, "I'll remember that name."

Privately Leinas thought that those four words could easily make or break the young dwarf's future.

"I will tell my children and grandchildren of your words." Himiline said in a deeply honored voice.

"Do you have those already?" Ainz asked curiously.

"Not yet sire, but I hope that my husband will see to that soon enough." Himiline said with a wry laugh.

'A woman?!' Ainz thought with utter surprise, and grateful for the laugh, he joined in the joke with a laugh of his own to cover his surprise.

In her own mind Leinas was stunned, not only that she was being guided by a female...because of the beard and all, but as she thought about it, every dwarf she'd observed had a beard...so...clearly some of them must have been female. But of even greater surprise, the Sorcerer King seemed to have known it all along based on his joining in her laugh. 'He can tell the sexes of such a different people apart from one another?! How can he be like this...?!' She asked herself in shock.

"Well may you have many of both in the years to come." Ainz said politely, his noble voice sounded as if he was intoning a blessing, and in the years to come, his wish for Himiline would pass from wish to truth, as she had eight children and eight grand children by each of her children over the next hundred years, and constantly credited the Sorcerer King's blessing for it, and told the story of how a chance encounter with the undead king along with a passing joke, lead to her fondest wish for a family life coming true. The story grew so popular among her children and grandchildren that the story spread over centuries, all over the dwarven homeland, and the blessing of the unliving king became a popular children's story that was expanded upon with new details to teach moral lessons on hospitality, humor, and values. In time people sought out the Sorcerer King for similar blessings. though he never himself learned the source of the myth, it was so fitting to someone taking on the title of god of the new world that he couldn't find a way out of it, so he ran with it and found a way to make it work. Leading the Sorcerer King to develop a form of fertility magic by exploiting the shitty dev's magic mechanics in Nazarick by using its replicative effects, in combination with the potions of Nfirea Bareare that would be covertly mixed into drinks given to those who visited him for blessing.

...But in that moment they just shared an amused laugh, and the tour showed off the many innovations, and as other dwarves began to show up for their shift in the improvised farmland, they paused to gawk at the undead king, standing frozen at the base of the stairs until at last they turned and treked back the way they'd come. Himiline let out a 'harumph' to snap them out of their staring, for which Ainz was grateful, towering over them as he did, it was uncomfortable to be stared at. Himiline was quick to act, pointing to someone at the back of the crowd, "You, go inform the council that the Sorcerer King has come to visit his subject's domain and he intends to visit them today, tell them he is touring the area first and will be along when he is ready." She didn't bother to say, 'and they'd better be ready' because she didn't need to, it was implied by the status of the visitor. The dwarf she'd pointed to nodded numbly and fairly sprinted back up the stairs, "The rest of you, you make good doors, but bad doorways, clear a path and let the Sorcerer King pass through!" She snapped, and the rest quickly moved to one side or the other and knelt, creating a walkway through to the steps. "Hail the Sorcerer King!" one said, which prompted the rest to echo the statement, and Ainz passed through without a word, nodding politely and waving as he moved to the steps, grateful to get away from the uncomfortable moment.

When they got to the top, Himiline asked, "Would your majesty prefer to see the market district, the new mining district, or the runesmith academy?" She asked.

"Lets just go with what is nearest and work our way outwards." The Sorcerer King said.

"The market district it is then." She said and lead the way, clearly the hour had advanced, as the nearly empty area was now a bustle of activity that stopped dead as the Sorcerer King approached and drew notice. "Hail the Sorcerer King!" was taken up so loudly that it was being shouted even by people who surely could not even have seen him. In passing Ainz thought that even without the messenger, word would be carried to the council of his visit.

Ainz didn't want to have a crowd following him at every step, but it was hard to deny his popularity gracefully, so he raised his hands and said, "Hail to the dwarves, loyal citizens, fine artisans, and founders of their own futures, please go about your lives, I come to tour your fair city, and see the fruits that the garden of peace has given rise to. Know that my thoughts are with you, and I am eager to sing your praises to my aides and to all my other peoples...but I can't very well do that if I can't walk through your marvelous home to see what bears praising, can I?"

He let a hint of mirth through his voice, and it carried effectively, another call praising his name came up, and then the dwarves began to resume their business, pausing only to move aside and watch him as he moved past. When they arrived at the market district, Ainz was suitably impressed by the variety of goods on display. "I see peace and trade has served you well." He said to Himiline.

"It has sire. With our trade ties to Carne, E-Rantel, the Baharuth Empire, and the Abellion Hills, we've expanded our import and export markets, our beer and our gear are now both famous and our beer in particular is served as far away as the Southern Holy Kingdom. The adventurer's guild's members have been carrying our fame on their backs as they wear our gear out into the wider world, I expect it has served as a great recruiting boon to your majesty's cause as well as a boon to your majesty's vision of the future." Himiline said.

"It has been." Ainz acknowledged, "With such equipment as a reward for training and advancement, we are achieving more than the previous institution ever dreamed, now with the new arena, the first of what will in time be several of them, and a system of advancement into the guild through arena experience, we are poised for new and extraordinary growth when the dust has settled on current events."

"New arena?" She asked curiously.

"I built an Arena in Carne a short while back." Ainz said casually. Himiline blinked.

"I will have to travel there to see it." She said, stammering her words out in surprise.

"You will not be disappointed." Ainz said. "I see that jewelry is becoming more popular here." He said as he pointed to various shops.

"It has, as art has come to us showing people wearing it, and our more difficult times have passed and prosperity has increased, we've taken to importing more luxury goods, something I'm quite glad of." She said happily. "We've also taken to importing some things called 'rugs and carpets' which cover all or part of a floor, only the rich can afford the carpets, but ohhh how good they feel on the toes and feet." She said with a wistful sigh.

The rest of the time in the market was taken up with small idiosyncratic observations, culminating with Ainz noticing that the coins of his kingdom were the only currency in use. The former dwarven currency was completely absent, when he asked about it, Himiline said, "Well the council could tell you more than I sire, the trade minister would probably know the most about it. But from what I understand, well as your majesty no doubt knows, we were devastated by the war with the quoga, we nearly lost everything, hell, we're only now, years later, beginning to reoccupy some of our former homes in the other cities, and it will no doubt be centuries before we have enough of a population in any of them to say they are truly occupied again. This left our economy devastated too, we traded with each other and nobody else, but when your majesty's trade came to us, it came to us with coins of your nation, and it became the defacto standard for us to use, I myself didn't pick up another dwarf kingdom coin for a year after the first caravan came to us, though we used our coins with your merchants as it is all we had, we made no more of them, so we've run very short, making it useless as a currency to us except in very rare cases. The trade minister decided that we should simply adopt the currency of our liege, yourself, and use that to trade with all your other vassalized domains since they would also value it most highly."

Ainz nodded, "He is very wise, this trade minister."

"Given the prosperity that has resulted, I must agree, sire." She said.

By this time the market district was gradually put behind them, and in a not great distance a large building loomed, cut into the mountain like most of the other dwarven buildings. "I take it that is the runecraft academy?" He asked.

"It is, sire. Gondo founded it when he came home for a visit to his friends, he got permission to establish it near the new mining district close to material sources for forging, and here he has teachers instructing new students."

Ainz nodded along, pretending as hard as he could to know everything she was talking about.

"Yes with all the research taking place in Carne and the mining taking place here, it makes sense that training would also take place here, your finest runesmiths are allowed to use the tools and materials of Nazarick, but it would be wasted material on the unfamiliar..." He said.

"Precisely so, your majesty, so he has a cycle of teachers from among the experts in Carne who take their vacations here to instruct new students, in a few years the first graduates will leave the academy prepared to ply their craft as masters, whereever your majesty wishes them, with a handful remaining behind as faculty to offer further instruction to the next generation. I was not present for your majesty's speech to the remaining runesmiths years ago, but we have all of us engraved your words on our hearts. That you wished us to rediscover the lost arts of our craft, Gondo has become something of a folk hero among us for his stubborn refusal to let go of our unique heritage, and others strive to equal his passion for runecraft as a result." Himiline's voice was enthusiastic, like a kid being handed a treat.

"I would like to walk through it." Ainz said.

"Majesty I think they would lay their bodies on the ground for you to walk on them to keep you from touching the earth, before they would dream of denying you entry." Himiline said with a laugh.

"That will not be necessary." Ainz said with a cough that was somewhat endearing and very 'not undead like'.

They approached the school, opened the door, and dozens of dwarves in the building stopped and fell on their faces, shouting, "Hail to the new father of runecraft!' Ainz froze as Himiline leaned in, "Their esteem for the art is such that they think it a higher praise than to call you a 'mere king'." She whispered softly, hoping the Sorcerer King was not displeased, and she was relieved when he raised his hand and said, "Rise, all of you noble children of runecraft." They muttered pleasure at the title he improvised for them, unknowingly creating a nickname for the runecraft artisans that would see them called 'the children of runecraft' century after century in the far flung years to come.

"I wish to see what my investment in your talents has given to the world." Ainz said, and an administrator, an older dwarf, came running as a result of the commotion and prostrated himself before the Sorcerer King.

"It shall be done sire, we have a great open hall that is available for just such a purpose, intended for final year students to show off their graduation project. Give us but an hour, and we will have them all prepared for your viewing, in the meantime, please, follow me to the headmaster's office, I believe Gondo is here today, and would be overjoyed to see your majesty again, thus not wasting your time while these students prepare their display for you."

Ainz, Himiline, and Leinas followed behind the very clearly much older administrator, and soon Ainz found himself in a small but well ordered office, with a weeping Gondo kneeling in front of him. "Sire, it has been too long, I trust you've been pleased with all our work? Its so good to see you again!"

"Rise Gondo, yes, I am quite pleased with all you've accomplished. I'm eager to see what work the school has accomplished, but how do you train students in your craft?"

"Oh sire, allow me to show you!" Gondo leapt up and rushed out the door, and Ainz found that despite the much smaller stride of the dwarf, his energy and enthusiasm was such that the large undead king had to take great strides to keep up with him. Soon Gondo opened the door to an empty class, "In rooms like this the students spend the first year on runes." He said, gesturing to a chalkboard, they learn not only what rune means what, but also the magical principles that underlay them all, they have to be able to perfectly shape each and every rune, first on paper, then on wood, then on various ores, mastering their basic use without any potentially powerful object."

After they exited the classroom, he took them to a room that had heat fairly blasting out of it even from behind the closed door, they then entered and Ainz found that there were numerous small forges along the walls. "The students then learn the fundamentals of smithing, if they pass the rune year, they spend the next two years apprenticed in smithing, learning the fundamentals of this craft, though they do spend time on it in the first year, learning how the forge works and so on, most of that year is taken up just with runic principles, after two years of forge work, interspersed with continuous refreshers on runes and their application...they go here..."

He then lead them down the hall to another large room from which great heat emanated, the door opened and again they found themselves in a room with forges, but also containing blackboards and reference charts along the wall. "Here in rooms like this it is all brought together, runes are finally applied to materials, simple tools for farming are the most basic, but as the students advance they're allowed to create weapons and armor over the course of a semester. Finally, they spend their last year on a single project, forging one item to which their name is forever attached, a graduation project, completing that project in the final assembly which your majesty will no doubt be proud of, the top winners of the task will be selected to be sent to Carne to join the research team of rune developers, creating new runes and discovering new techniques, the remainder will be put into state employment providing equipment for your majesty and for high paying private clients seeking specialized equipment, such as shovels that won't break or axes that won't dull."

Gondo's voice was equal parts filled with pride as they'd walked, the whole thing had taken barely an hour as he pointed out individual implements and explained their use in the process, and just as he was wrapping up, and the elderly administrator approached them, "Sire, the senior class has laid out their work for your inspection in the main assembly hall, if it pleases you, they await your convenience."

Gondo looked at the Sorcerer King with a desperate hope that rivalled their first meeting.

The moment hung in the air, "It would please me to see these things, please, Gondo, lead on...but no need to rush it, let us take our time and enjoy the atmosphere." Ainz said sardonically.

Gondo blushed a bit, but took slower and more measured steps this time as they strode to the main hall, there was a large white marble double door of most intricate display, on it was carved a slew of figures kneeling before another, the ones kneeling were clearly dwarves, holding their hands outstretched as if to receive something. The one standing before them was a large skeletal figure, holding out a sword on which numerous runes had been inscribed, he was offering the sword out to the group.

"Perhaps your majesty remembers this scene?" Gondo said. "It was the moment our pride as runesmiths was restored, our fire rekindled, when your majesty presented us with that ancient blade of the runesmiths of old made from forgotten techniques, it restored our dignity and our desire as nothing ever did before, we immortalized that moment, a challenge to our students as our ancestors delivered their challenge to us through you. Note the sign above." Ainz turned his head up and it read, "Accept the Challenge".

"Our motto." Gondo said proudly as the doors parted before them, and as Ainz looked around, he was reminded of the science fairs of his youth, there were booths everywhere with projects on display, there were some one hundred dwarves scattered about, most of them looking nervous as they turned to see that their patron and the founder of their academy had come together.

"What do you think, Himiline?" Ainz asked the female dwarf warrior.

"They made my gear sire, I'm proud to wear it, they do good work." She said simply and directly.

"Agreed, now lets see what their next generation is capable of." He said and stepped into the hall, they went to the first exhibit, a nervous looking dwarf with a big black beard knelt immediately, and rose when permitted.

"What have you made?" Ainz asked.

The dwarf stumbled over his words, but he gestured to a large cask. "Sire, this cask is...well...will when it is finished, keep beer at the ideal temperature, frosted and chilled, no matter its surrounding conditions, it will also keep the beer fresh so that it doesn't spoil, so that it holds a perfect head when poured and does not go flat."

"I see, how does it work?" Ainz asked.

The dwarf, emboldened by the Sorcerer King's curiosity went on to elaborate, "Each of the bands runs 'through' the wood' rather than outside of it, and each band has a different rune carved on it, based on the magic principle of separation and contamination, each rune is able to function independently, but affects the nearest substance to it, the nearest substance being the beer. I used the runes for cold, youth, and clean. My initial design had also intended the rune for light, so that it could be easily transported...but I couldn't fit another band on without warping the runes by their close proximity."

"Did you not try using the bottom center for that one?" Ainz asked curiously.

The student blinked as the light came on at Ainz's question. "Tha-that didn't occur to my sire, that is genius...I will have four runes on this when my final project is due!" He grinned broadly.

Gondo's mouth fell open, "Majesty...are you a runesmith?"

Ainz laughed and shook his head, "No Gondo, just a fairly good magic caster who understands that sometimes to solve problems, you have to turn them on their head."

"I will engrave your majesty's words onto my heart." Gondo said softly.

"Also, when his project is finished, I'd like to place an order for one thousand such casks...after he's graded of course...to be divided between the adventurer's guilds, imperial barracks, and a few other places, I'll have a list sent to you later." Ainz said, "Apply for a patent through E-Rantel for your design, and you alone will be permitted to make and sell these for the next seven years." Ainz said to the dwarf whose eyes were almost as large as his face as they expanded at the prospect of such overwhelming profit and becoming so widely known all at once.

"I...well...we'll still have to do the official grade for the final, but I think it is safe to say you've passed." Gondo said to the student who was literally dancing with joy.

They went through a number of other projects over the course of several hours, some of them were very interesting and innovative, modifying ordinary objects into newly useful items, from dustbins that pulled dust to themselves, to a sword that could freeze or burn depending on which side of the blade was used, Ainz was impressed with what Gondo had accomplished.

At the end of it all, Ainz went up to the podium on stage and said, "I came to this realm to tour the lands of my people, I came to this school to see the fruits of your labor, to know if the investment in time and money and blood that was expended to save the dwarves and to save the art of runecraft had been worth it all. I am proud to say...it has been." His voice carried easily throughout the hall and it was quiet enough that a pin could drop and be heard, but no pin would dare to fall and interrupt his words.

"I have seen fascinating projects that improve the quality of life, excellent tools of war that will protect generations yet to come, the runesmiths of old would be proud of what you have accomplished, their legacy is made secure in you, who will be the first graduates of the Runecraft Academy. You are the first, that means like your teachers, you must set the bar for all others to follow, every class who comes after, will be compared to you, just as all future teachers, will be compared to these among the first of them, in your hands lies the future pride of all who follow, you ARE living up to it now, today, so do not let the future down tomorrow. Hold your heads up high, RUNESMITHS!"

Ainz finished the last word with a shout, resulting in cheers from every booth, and at the back of the room, administrators, teachers, and other students who had heard word of his visit to the school, had filtered in and quietly observed with nervous and hopeful eyes as the Sorcerer King judged what their students and classmates presented.

When Ainz finished his speech, there wasn't a dry eye at the back of the room or in its center. Gondo could barely see through the sheen of tears. "Majesty, that I should live to see this day, to hear those words...it is a fulfillment of a dream I thought mad and foolish, if I were to die now, I would have no regrets, thank you, thank you, thank you!" He said sincerely.

"It is my pleasure Gondo, keep up the good work, all of you." He said, "I suppose we should meet with the council now, I do have a great deal to do." Ainz said, somewhat regretfully.

"As you say sire." Himiline stammered out.

'He's got everything...' she thought to herself as she lead the way out of the academy and into the city center, dwarves stopped to gawk, but by now word had widely spread and near the center there was an honor guard of a dozen fully armored dwarves waiting for them.

"Your majesty, we are your honor guard, here to escort you to the council." A gruff and somewhat large...for a dwarf anyway, individual said.

"I will be in your care." Ainz said politely. Leinas followed along behind, silent as she took in everything around her, the buildings of the interior of the city were large, but clearly carved out of solid rock, they'd been squared off and hollowed out, the roadways had clearly been done the same, the buildings didn't seem to have 'bricks' they just seemed like they were part of the mountain itself, with various glowing stones placed about to provide the dwarves with all the light they'd need, it was orderly, grid like in its layout, and spoke of skilled architecture, it wasn't a place she'd choose to live, but she could see the utility of it all and it would not be an easy place to take. Then her mind flew back to the academy, and she wondered idly how he'd jumped to a solution for the cask so quickly. She licked her lips a little, she was rather fond of dwarven beer, and the notion of a supply that stayed fresh and frosty no matter how long it was stored was a mighty appealing thing, she snorted in dismissal at her foolish parents who had turned up their noses at 'common' things like beer, they had no idea what they'd missed, the rough and tumble life she'd lead had exposed her to many simple pleasures that nobles never learned of, though there was something to be said for noble comforts, good beer belonged in much higher esteem than it was usually held in, or so she believed.

When they arrived in the council chamber, they stood and bowed deeply to their savior, before Ainz asked them to sit, one chair remained empty, the forgemaster who had stolen the ingot had still not been found, nor had the ingot he stole, and they had not seen fit to replace him yet it seemed.

"Sire, we welcome you to our homeland, we hope you have been pleased with our work and our tributes to you?" The dwarf at the center said politely.

"I have been, but this tour of mine is not merely for pleasure, I have a far graver, greater need. Though I must first say your Runecraft Academy is an institution to be very proud of, your students are very impressive for mortals, indeed I ordered one thousand copies of one of the projects."

The council members looked at each other in shock and confusion, not sure what to ask first. "What...was it that they made?" One of the dwarves asked, settling the question of what to learn first.

"A cask that keeps beer fresh, frosty, with a firm head, no matter how long it is stored for, oh and which is lightweight for easy transport, allowing far more beer to be stored and transported. I told him to apply for a patent to give him exclusive manufacture and sale rights for the next few years." Ainz said casually.

"We want to buy some of those for ourselves." They said enthusiastically.

'Dwarves do love their beer.' Ainz thought. "I will give each of you one of the casks I've purchased as a personal gift, a show of my great appreciation for your support of this valuable school."

They stoood and bowed deeply once again. "We are eternally grateful your majesty." They said in unison.

"Now, on to the more serious matter. War is coming." He said flatly. "The Slane Theocracy has built an alliance that has grown to encompass many peoples, and they intend to march on my supporters and my nation and bring us all to ruin. I do not need to tell you how they feel about dwarves I suppose?" Ainz asked.

They swallowed hard. Though close to human, dwarves would not fare well under the Slane Theocracy any more than elves did, and they knew how elves had fared.

"What would you have of your servants?" They asked.

"I would ask for volunteers, and as many weapons of war as you can manufacture as fast as you can make them, I realize your numbers are not many, but they do not need to be, your numbers will be folded in with others, and I swear your lives will not be squandered needlessly. I will not command any of you to conscript your people by force, I ask only that those who are willing, present themselves at the base of the mountain in fifteen days time, to be armed and equipped at my expense and transported to the assembly point for training and preparation. They will be placed under the command of Zaryusu, a lizardman who may be familiar to some of you."

There was a host of muttering, but the council stood and bowed again. "We will have word sent through all our holdings asking for volunteers among our soldiers and common citizens. I think it safe to say that your majesty will have our full support in this war, it is the least we can do after you preserved us from the quoga." Their eldest figure said.

"I volunteer." Himiline said firmly. "Sirs, send your volunteers to me, and I'll make sure we're all ready to go in time." She said.

"Very well, you will have temporary command until going into the Sorcerer King's ranks." The military commander said with surprise.

"I'm glad that is settled." Ainz said, "Now, there is one more matter."

They looked uncertain.

"Alcohol." He said.

They looked very certain that they were very happy.

"I will have materials sent from Nazarick for an impromptu feast, I call it the feast of Lemuria, one I intend to make an annual event in peacetime when all is said and done, to celebrate a satisfying tour and seeing my subjects so prosperous and growing so strong." Ainz said. "If the word can be spread, and if you gather some servants to lay out tables and musicians to play, well I can be ready in short order." He said.

Gondo was clearly not the only dwarf who could move very quickly on short legs, and before long there were tables, chairs, musicians, and much more gathering in the main square, when Ainz opened a gate and undead servants began bringing out casks and casks of beer, bottle after bottle of wine, and countless varieties of food from fish to beef and numerous unrecognizable things, the dwarves were more eager than they could say. Within a few hours people were feasting, eating, and drinking, laughing, dancing, flirting, and otherwise enjoying themselves. The stern countenance of the average dwarf, Ainz decided, had an almost childlike enthusiasm for laughter and enjoyment buried just beneath the surface and needing only an excuse to come out, it was one he was happy to offer, and the goods of Nazarick garnered abundant praise that would see the tavern owners flinch as the estimation of their quality of goods necessarily diminished by comparison.

Such was the course of events well into what must have been evening, when drunk and happy dwarves either staggered back home or fell where they were. Ainz could not help but laugh at the scene, so much so that when he stood up to speak to announce his departure, he could only be grateful that his face showed no expression, as it was, he could only keep it short to avoid laughing more.

"Good dwarves, you have done great work, you have made your city something to be proud of, so I toast to your future, and I look forward to making this toast for ten thousand generations more, at the Feast of Lemuria that I host with your descendants yet to come, and I shall tell them this...that their ancestors knew very well how to have a good time!" He began the last sentence in an almost whispered conspiratorial voice, but finished it with a loud flourish and a raised mug that drew many more raised in return and many more loud cheers.

Ainz lowered his mug, regretting that he could not enjoy drinking as he used to, and he turned to Himiline. "It was a pleasure to meet you." Ainz said, and she bowed deeply, "Now my time is up, I have other places to be, but I will see you again I'm sure, so until then, good luck." He said, and created his gate, and then stepped through it, with Leinas following right behind him.

She looked around, and found herself in darkness.

"Ahhh, E-Rantel." Ainz said as he stretched out in a way Leians was sure that no normal undead would ever do, holding his arms out and leaning backwards so that his head tilted up to look at the sky, "Night time though, I suppose we can find an inn for the night, and begin tomorrow. But how I do love the stars, like jewels that decorate this world."

**AN: I hadn't intended to do a chapter today, but reviewer 'Commander Tanya' has a birthday today and asked for it as a birthday present sooo...here it is. Anyway, hope she enjoys the chapter, as do the rest of you, Happy Birthday Tanya. Reviews are welcome, but don't you all go and start faking birthdays to get me to write more, I'm starting my vacation in 2 days and I'll be gone for 2 weeks, so you're just going to have to be bloody patient. I will do a Q&A insert soon, if you have questions, leave them in the reviews and I'll go back through to answer them later. This particular story has only two chapters to go, at least nominally, it might need one...MAYBE two more beyond that, depending on the overall length, but for now plan on there being just two more before I move on from this story, finish up the last chapter or two of the Queen in the Sword, and then get back to God Rising until the end. Till my return, ENJOY!**

**ALSO...reviews please. :) **


	14. Return to E-Rantel

"Majesty?" Leinas asked.

"Yes Leinas?" Ainz replied.

"I'm sure we could find an inn, but...don't you have a manor here?" She asked.

Had Ainz had actually eyelids, he'd have blinked. As it was he coughed and thought as quickly as he could to improvise a reason for an inn rather than staying at his manor so he wouldn't have to admit that he'd forgotten it. "Ahem...well...yes, I do, but...we're here to tour first of all, to view how the city has changed, if I go to the manor, I will be occupied with ceremony and all manner of other nonsense that keeps me from walking the streets of the places I wish to see, therefore we will stay at an inn for now, and in the morning we will pick things up again."

"I see." Leinas said with seeming understanding.

"May I ask something else?" She asked.

'Please don't...' Ainz thought, but he replied, "If you wish."

"Do you always put such thought into your actions?" She said with a measure of pride in her voice.

"It is my job." Ainz replied nobly, "And what use is anyone who does not put pride and thought into their job, no matter what it is?"

It was a sentiment Leinas agreed with, and it reminded her of the diligence of Jircniv, in that idle moment in the darkness of the evening she reflected that though she never held any true loyalty to Jircniv due to her obsession with curing her curse...had that curse been lifted before, she would have felt for him the loyalty she now felt growing for the Sorcerer King. Everyone served someone, that was the way of the world, but the Sorcerer King seemed to take it to mean that the ruler served the ruled in return.

It was a satisfying view, and in some corner of her mind Leinas wondered if she was bearing a walking witness to the beginning of a golden age for her world.

Ainz knew the area better than she, and so when he began to walk, she fell into step one footfall behind and to his right, death knights still patrolled the city streets, but the hour was so late that they were literally the only things moving on the streets other than the Sorcerer King and herself. It was easy enough to find a comfortable inn, E-Rantel had become a powerful and populated city, demihumans lived in such abundance there that all the minority demihumans together were now half the population, balancing out the humans who made up the other half of the total numbers. Integrated as they were into the overall population, it was still divided by district almost by default, since the city had to expand for the new residents, and the new residents were mostly nonhuman, that meant the expanded areas farther from the city center were defacto demihuman districts while the interior of the city was notably growing in wealth. Ainz turned that problem over in his head as he walked, it had been brought up to him before, the lessons of history from his childhood were not lost on him, he knew to well the danger of allowing a distinctly different underclass to appear and have it locked out of prosperity and economic participation.

The problem was not fully solved in his mind yet, and he was still turning possible solutions over in his head when Leinas spoke up. "Sire, may I ask...why E-Rantel?"

Ainz didn't break his stride, it was not an unexpected question. "You could have, with your power, taken over the whole of Re-Estize, or captured Arwintar, or anywhere else. Why this little insignificant city on the border between three nations?" She asked.

"Have you ever heard of something called the 'founder effect'?" Ainz asked.

She looked confused, "Never, sire."

He chuckled, "Of course, forgive my foolish question, I have not revealed it yet." He took a deep breath that he definitely did not need, but which made him appear...so much more human to Leinas, she wondered how long he'd had to practice these little gestures that in subtle ways made humans more comfortable around him. It gave her an odd sense of gratitude that he should go so far to put weaker people at ease.

"The founder effect is the resulting ripple of influence that comes from building something anew. It states that the effect of those who begin a process or institution, echoes far beyond their own lifetimes, much more so than the effect of all those who come after, who tend to follow the precedents of those who began those institutions. Consider the adventurer's guild, it was founded for monster hunting to protect humans, its basic principles of how to treat civilians, demihumans, and so on, were all set along ago, and everyone who came after merely followed the precedent for the institution with very little modification. Nations work similarly, in the distant past, long, long before any recorded history you would ever know, there was a nation known as the United States, a collection of small governments that came together to establish a single nation, their first president...their version of what you'd call a king, could have remained in power for life, but instead he chose to serve for no more than two terms of four years, after which he left office to be replaced, establishing a pattern of succession and transition that would not be broken for many generations, after it eventually was, those in power promptly passed laws mandating that the tradition become a law, the influence of his view of such restrictions continued for centuries. This extended to other policies on how they saw their relationships with other governments, trade, everything. Those who found a body, set a standard that all others tend to follow." He explained patiently as Leinas listened in rapt attention.

"The empire's foundation set a tone for strong central government, a process that continued up to the present with the Bloody Emperor who had at his back, centuries of enduring trends expressed by the actions of the empire's founders themselves. By contrast the Re-Estize Kingdom was created by its founders as a divided entity that relied on a careful balance of nobles against the king, such that their last monarch had to struggle mightily against tradition set by its foundational precedents and was never fully successful. Overcoming this 'founder effect' is very difficult without completely bringing down whatever has grown up from it. By contrast, it is very easy to create the desired founder effect by beginning something entirely knew when people are most receptive to it." Ainz said, thinking his public school teacher would be very proud of how he recited his lessons.

"So E-Rantel..." She began.

"Yes, but not just E-Rantel. Carne Village. In Carne I created opportunity first by saving their lives, as a small village with relatively little history and only a shell of loyalty to the Re-Estize Kingdom which cared nothing for them, they were open to anything that might improve their bleak existence. When I defeated Re-Estize at the Katze Plains, E-Rantel was broken off from its foundation, and the fear after the massacre was so great that there was nobody who was going to oppose me as I rewrote their laws and founded a new nation atop the piece broken off from the old. Had I seized a center of power such as the capitol of the Empire, I would have, even in terror of total victory, run counter to long established customs and deeply held loyalties to the old system. This way..." he said as he stretched out his arms to encompass the whole city, "was much, much more practical. Moreover, the locations for both areas are such that they sit astride what will become the greatest trade routes in the world, they are at a crossroads between great lands, that will be made greater when they are under my rule, and the changes that begin in Carne and follow in E-Rantel, will become the basis, the test cases, for changes that will radiate throughout the entire world." Ainz said proudly, eagerly, almost childlike in his enthusiasm.

Leinas felt her eyes go wide at the scope of his vision, the concepts he'd just imparted to her were like nothing she'd ever imagined, however when she considered the institutions she knew and had been a part of...it seemed obvious. People accustomed to certain ways, get set in them and tend not to shake the foundations of what they know unless they were ripped away. The world though...the entire world? For a moment she felt as if she could see it, the banner of Ainz Ooal Gown from North to South, with undead pulled carts traveling over well maintained roads, with integrated armies of demihumans, humans, adventurers, undead, and insurmountable magic, everything covering for everything else's weaknesses, balancing each other out in unity and driven by a single minded goal of stability and prosperity. It was dizzying. She wondered if Jircniv had ever heard this kind of thing, and she resolved to write a letter to her former liege to ask him...when time permitted.

It was at that moment that they came to a large and luxurious inn, ornate wood carvings on the outside and a clean entryway, Ainz walked in as if it was the most natural thing in the world for the most powerful ruler in the known world to just stroll casually into different establishments. The man at the front desk...wasn't human, it was an elf missing the tips of his ears, it wasn't hard for Leinas to conclude that he'd been a slave somewhere, probably in the South where that form of mutilation was more common.

The elf saw the Sorcerer King, and immediately rushed out from behind the front desk and knelt in front of him. "Sire, my savior, my god of justice, freedom, and life..." The elf was visibly moved, near to tears. "Welcome to this humble establishment, we of the Notahilt Inn are overjoyed to play host to your august self. And may I say sire...thank you...thank you...thank you for having saved me."

Ainz wondered if he'd ever become comfortable with that kind of constant deference, and with an uncomfortable, voice he said, "Ahem, of course you are welcome and you may rise and attend my needs."

The elf promptly stood and bowed, "I am at your majesty's command, shall I prepare a room for you?"

"Two, for myself and for Leinas here." He gestured to the tall imposing adamantite ranked bodyguard, who looked...next to Ainz...measurably less of both categories.

"As you wish sire!" The elf said and he rushed back behind the desk. Leinas watched the way he moved, smoothly, gracefully. He'd been free awhile, restored to an elf's natural flowing motion and not the stooped trudging of a slave, he was slender as most of their race were. Still, he bore an athletic appearance of lean muscle indicating good health and good food were the norm for him. His clothes were tailored to fit to his body and they were of high quality, it was what one would expect at such a remarkable establishment. The furniture was all polished and hand carved, tables were of either rich mahogany or carved of solid blocks of marble, chairs were plush cushioned and scattered about the main entryway, the floor must have had a wooden base, but the floor had close fitting stone tiles of a blue gray hue that were polished to a shine. Overhead a chandelier held not candles, but glowing stones of a blue shade similar to the stone, it cast the whole room in a peaceful light and Leinas felt quite relaxed. People were absent in this late hour, but an attendant was quick to appear and offer to take any bags they had...of which there were none. So when the keys were taken out they were handed to the attendant and Ainz reached for his coin purse and the elf behind the counter said, "Your majesty, this city is yours, you needn't pay for a room here!"

Ainz shrugged, "To refuse to pay would be to say your labor was not worth the investment, and had no value. Everything and everyone in my domain has value, and I would not diminish any of it or them or myself by withholding payment for services rendered."

"I-I see. Your majesty honors us greatly." The elf said, and he bowed deeply again and gratefully took several coins of gold. The attendant then walked to a set of stairs that wound their way upwards in a spiral, leading to an upper floor, the rail was smooth as ice and carved from a deep dark red shaded wood that Leinas didn't recognize. When they were on an upper floor the attendant, a human that was impeccably dressed much like the elf at the front desk, lead the way down a hall to two different rooms, one next to the other. "Your rooms sire. Please simply pull the rope by the bed if you require anything, it will ring the bell at the front desk and someone will be right up to attend to you."

He bowed deeply, and Ainz took a platinum coin out of his purse and held it out to the young man, his eyes went wide as he stared at months of labor held out in the form of a single coin."

He reached out, hesitant, as if he could scarcely believe what was in front of him, he looked at Ainz in frank disbelief, but Ainz nodded and kept the coin extended, the man slowly took it between his fingers and held it close to his face as if he could not believe what he was seeing. "T-thank you sire." He said, clearly at a loss.

"Goodnight." Ainz said, dismissing him, and the man bowed once more and went back the way he'd come. "Leinas, take that room there, come see me first thing in the morning when the sun rises and we'll be off about our business."

"As your majesty wills it." She said, barely containing a yawn, grateful that the untiring undead would care enough for her body's need for rest to accommodate her.

Ainz entered his room, closed the door, and lay down on the bed, tired as he could be from the mental strain of maintaining his noble bearing and the frequent improvisation.

The nights alone, with no obligations, nobody to bother him, nobody needing anything, those hours were the only real vacation Ainz had, and he lay down on the luxurious bed and let himself drift into empty thoughts, a mindless state of ease and relaxation that would let the still human mind of his recouperate. Morning came all to soon for the undead king, who valued his peace and tranquility, but whether he wanted it or not, here it was, and it was heralded by a firm knock at the door.

Ainz approached and swung it open after casting a brief cleansing spell on his clothing, and he was greeted by the fresh clear face of Leinas Rockbruise, her blonde hair bound behind her so that her whole face was clearly visible, a stark contrast to her precured state. She was, in Ainz's judgement, a beautiful woman, as proud of her skills as she was, the blight on her face must have tortured her.

"Lets go." He said before she could even offer up a good morning, she fell into step behind him and they walked down the hall, steps, and towards the door, drawing some surprised looks as he appeared. The shock of the hotel however was nothing compared to the shock in the street when he stepped out of the door...it wasn't every day that you got to see a King walk the streets after all. Ainz paused and looked back at those who were looking at him.

"Well...I'd planned to do this later...but as they're all gawking at me now, might as well go about it." He said softly, just enough so that Leinas could hear him. "Good morning, people of E-Rantel, residents of one of the great cities of the world!" Ainz said in a booming noble voice.

"There is no need to fear, I have not come to tax or try you, only to see the way my laws have impacted your lives, I wish to know your struggles that I may ease them, see what is great and make it greater, see what is hard and make it easier, come, speak your minds freely, I swear on my name that I do not punish discontent, I alleviate it." He said, holding his arms out wide, releasing his staff and letting it float beside him.

There were blinking eyes and silence, but no words as the bustling crowd stood frozen in continued surprise. It felt to Leinas like a very awkward moment. Ainz however, eased the tension with a laugh and got the ball rolling himself. "You!" He pointed to a child, a young boy roughly the age of seven. His clothes were not clean, and they'd been mended many times, he was holding his mother's hand, a woman who looked to be in her early twenties at most, they both had sandy hair and green eyes, their skin was deeply tanned suggesting they spent much time outdoors. "Come here young one." Ainz said and took a knee putting himself closer to the child's height.

The child tugged on his mother's hand trying to obey the King's summon, but she was clearly fearful and could not move. It was only her surprise that caused her to lose her grip on her child, and he rushed over and stood in front of the skeletal king. That snapped her back to reality and she rushed over to grab and pull him back protectively, but Ainz raised his hand as if to tell her to stop, and she paused, shaking, fearful of angering the mighty sorcerer.

"What is your name boy?" Ainz asked.

"Githred." He said bravely.

"What does your family do Githred?" Ainz asked.

"We farm." He said.

"Sire!" She snapped to the boy.

"Sire!" he corrected himself.

"Its alright, he's just a child." Ainz said, setting the woman at greater ease.

"Do you like farming?" He asked.

The boy shook his head. "Not really. Its hard, its boring!" He said.

"What do you want to do?" Ainz asked.

"I want to be an adventurerer! Like Momon!" The boy shouted enthusiastically, prompting chuckles from the crowd, the tension had begun to dissipate.

Ainz nodded. "That is a noble goal, Momon is a great warrior and worthy of admiration." He said politely praising the people's hero.

"Why is farming hard though, do you not have skeletons to help you?" Ainz asked curiously.

"No." The boy said looking down at the ground. "Since papa died at Katze somethin, we don't got a lotta money, so momma says we can't afford skeletons, so we gotta do it ourselves. Swhy I don't go to the village school the priests made, momma can't work by herself, an she say when the crops'r sold, well everybody else is sellin at the same time so we can't get much for em."

Ainz put his skeletal fingers to his chin and looked up at his mother. "Is this true?" He asked her. She looked terrified at his glowing red eyes, the eyes of the being that bore the guilt of causing her husband's death, and the tension that had begun to dissipate...came back asshe nodded slowly but said, "Please...sire...he's just a boy he doesn't know..."

"How to very well lie yet?" Ainz asked somewhat sardonically. "I know, that is why I like children, unvarnished truth is the best basis for decisions. If I did not want true answers, I should not ask questions, should I?" Ainz asked, and then he reached into his coin purse and took out two platinum coins and gave them to the boy. "Give these to your mother." He said, and the boy returned to his mother and held them up, and she dropped to her knees in shock, for her that was two years worth of living clutched in his little fingers.

"That is a weakness in the system then." Ainz said, stood up, and quickly cast a few small spells that created a floating quill and paper. "Note, create preferential purchase program for small farmers supplementing market sales with stipends to ensure living wage, also, ensure tiered pricing from Black Justice temples to provide lower cost undead labor leasing to small family farms, additionally, create stipend system providing income to parents whose children attend school to offset cost of lost field and trade labor."

One by one Ainz went through the problems the boy illustrated and solved them in front of the crowd, when he was done, he reached for the paper and summoned one of the nearby undead that were a central feature of life in E-Rantel, the elder liche approached, and Ainz handed it over. "See that this is delivered to the governmental manor and addressed to Albedo, I expect a functional program to be created and implemented on a trial basis for surrounding villages within one week's time." The undead took it without a word and began to move through the crowd, which parted like the red sea before the obedient monster.

"Now, who else can tell me about the wellbeing of my city?" Ainz asked, and the tension melted away like ice on a hot summer day. People began to approach the Sorcerer King and tell him more, and he took notes, asked questions, and word began to spread that the Sorcerer King himself was in the street and speaking with the people, it was a rare event at best, and people flocked to see him even if they didn't have anything to say or questions to ask. Leinas stood by in awe, keeping close enough to ensure the crowds knew to give the Sorcerer King space, but allowing people to approach individually to pay their respects, present problems, present ideas, and so on. She marveled at the ease with which he'd handled a program to improve the wellbeing of poor farmers and the attention he gave to the education of peasant children. The casual competence he exhibited in his decisions reminded her of the way a swordsman who mastered his art effortlessly dodged the clumsy thrusts of a novice. It was as if he'd seen every problem there was and knew in advance how to solve them. She blinked and shook her head as it confounded her, it didn't seem possible, no matter how old he truly was, as a magic caster of the highest order, his specialty had to have always been magic, and to have attained such godlike power, it all had to be devoted to attaining such ability over eons. No...the only conclusion she could reach was that he was simply a genius, and his automatic competence was just the fruit of an amazing mind in an immortal body. Idly she wondered where humanity would be now if he'd taken an interest in them many centuries ago.

Thoughts like that swirled around her mind as people came to the King and talked about the city, nor was it just people who did so, elves, dwarves, even demihumans like a rabbitman and lizardman approached, and Ainz spoke with all of them, listened attentively, and it killed several hours before at last he said. "My people, though I would love to give you countless more hours, there are many tasks yet laid before me that I must accomplish, know that I have heard you, and in the days ahead you can expect to see many new features designed to improve the city yet again above where it stands even now!"

"Long live the Sorcerer King!" Someone shouted.

"Long may he reign! Long may he reign!" The cheers went up with raised fists.

"Now, we go to the adventurer's guild." Ainz said, and he began to walk, the crowd allowing him through, though he waved to those he passed by, basking in their positive emotional state, she recognized what he was doing, anyone in the higher levels of society did, it was how crowds were worked, yet he did it differently, he didn't do it while riding from a palanquin, he didn't do it riding on a high warhorse, he didn't do it with the spectacle or display, he did it on foot as he had in the Empire, allowing his presence to be felt by being on the same ground as the public. It was a decidedly effective approach that seemed to have endeared the population to him.

Leinas kept careful pace with him, until they reached the adventurer's hall, and Ainz approached the desk where a worker with head down was gazing at a piece of paper, until that is, Ainz put his skeletal hand in her view. She jumped back like a snake had just come into view, and when she saw she'd been ignoring the Sorcerer King, she might well have preferred that to have been the case.

"I'm here to see Pluton." Ainz said politely.

"He-he's in sire!" She said with her eyes darting left and right as if to find an escape, "I will fetch him!" She almost shrieked, before Ainz said, "Pay no mind, I'll go to his office. I know the way." He said, seemingly indifferent to her having overlooked him in her focused state.

She swallowed. "As your majesty wishes." She said and she inched back to the desk to resume her paperwork, hoping against hope that the Sorcerer King didn't lay criticism at her feet for not having noticed him.

The other adventurers who saw the exchange shook their heads, figuring there'd be a new receptionist soon.

A few moments later Ainz found himself at the door to Pluton's door and knocking politely. A moment later a voice invited him in, and in he walked.

When he saw who entered, the head of the Adventurer's Guild immediately dropped to one knee. "Your majesty! I had no idea you were coming! Had I known I would have prepared a reception..."

"Which is why I didn't inform anyone I was coming." Ainz said with a hint of humor in his voice, "When in my position, people who know I'm coming...tend to put on a show, I don't see what I really want to see, I see what they want to present, so...here I am, unnanounced." He said with that humor maintained, but also a firm truthful tone, he moved to sit at the table where he had many times before as Momon, and he gestured for Pluton to sit as well. Leinas took her place at the entrance, blocking the door and waiting quietly as she observed the parlay.

"How have you liked the reforms of the last few years, Pluton?" Ainz asked, leaning forward and folding one hand over the other, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Majesty it is a dream come true, your dungeon and your training grounds and the rewards of excellent equipment have sparked unprecedented growth in the strength of our adventurers, and I'm no longer seeing talent just die due to bad luck early on in their careers, I can see talent bloom at last, and it is a garden of talent out there, truly I could not be more overjoyed." He said with a contented sigh.

Ainz nodded in approval, "I'm glad to hear it. But now I must come to you with news, news that will become public soon enough." His noble voice became firm and solemn, and Pluton's expression changed to one much more serious as he listened.

"War is coming, and it is coming fast. My agents report that the Slane Theocracy has been gathering allies, they have mercenaries, workers, their own armies, zealots and paladins in the Southern Holy Kingdom, and they'll have vengeful nobles out of Re-Estize as well if I'm any judge of politics. I doubt very much they'll get the Argland City Council to join them...I can't rule it out, but as we both host demihumans freely in our kingdoms, it seems improbable that they'd side with an alliance dedicated to their extermination." Ainz said coldly, logically, seeming in Pluton's eyes, more an undead than he ever had before.

"And your majesty...you'll use your magic to crush them?" He asked, where Ainz voice was cold and logical, Pluton's carried a nervous edge to it, distinct discomfort as he imagined the same magic from the Katze Plains being turned on entire cities.

Ainz shook his head, "Not if I can avoid it. I will have this war fought in more conventional terms, bringing armies to bear, and I will 'trade away' handicaps on my magic use in exchange for their alliance abiding by certain terms and conditions in the treatment of prisoners, wounded, and so on. You are familiar with my temple requirements on healing and my policy on acceptance of surrenders from defeated foes?"

"I am, and if I may add sire, it has had a profoundly positive impact on the way the adventurers have seen your rule." Pluton added, relief flooding over him as the noble bearing of the Sorcerer King seemed restored again.

"Good. That pleases me. Now on to my reason for coming to you today. I wish to ask for volunteers from the adventurers guild to serve under one of my generals as part of the army." Ainz said bluntly.

Pluton paused, the Sorcerer King had not completely promised that he would never use the adventurers for this kind of promise, and he hadn't said he would either, promising only that he hadn't planned it at the time. He heaved a heavy sigh and leaned forward to mimic the posture of the undead King. "Sire...please forgive me for my question, but when you say 'volunteers' do you 'mean' volunteers...or are these to be voluntold?" He said, doing his damnedest to keep the displeasure from his voice.

"I mean volunteers." Ainz said, and not just from the adventurers, from all the citizens of E-Rantel. "I will not compel anyone to join the ranks. Know however, that those who do will be well rewarded when the war ends, whether adventurer or common citizen."

Pluton's expression did not clear up right away, Ainz could see in the man's eyes that he was deep in thought. "I expect you will have a number of volunteers sire, but may I ask, under whose command will they be placed?"

"Under the command of Zaryusu Sasha, he is being given a commission as a general." Ainz said, and Pluton's eyes cleared up.

"That will help. He's well remembered from his time among the guild members." Pluton replied.

"He will also have dwarves, elves, lizardmen, quoga, and other races under his command. It will be a fully integrated army, and if possible, I would like to ask that you serve as one of his aides-de-camp." Ainz added, prompting Pluton's jaw to drop.

"I'm a little old for fighting..." Pluton said, though clearly tempted.

Ainz shook his head, "The role of an aide-de-camp is to help with the administration of the army, rather like a king's council, but for a general. Your presence will inspire confidence in both adventurers and common citizens who have still not grown entirely accustomed to the presence of demihumans and the like living among them."

Pluton looked uncertain, so Ainz continued his attempt to sell the guild leader on it.

"Tell me Pluton, do you like what the city has become, what the guild has become, since the founding of the Sorcerous Kingdom?" Ainz asked.

"I-I do sire. Its like some blissful fever dream, like watching the foundation of a golden age, I feel like one day this might be a time of legend that people will speak of with disbelief, because I'm living it...and I find I have to pinch myself to see if I'm awake or dreaming." He said passionately.

Ainz chuckled and said, "Well the Slane Theocracy is hell bent on its destruction, if given their way, they will break everything we have built, there will be no stone standing on a stone of our walls, no two of our people will be together at once, if any survive at all, you know their reputation, you know their ways, they will show no mercy to anyone who they deem to have been 'contaminated' by the ideals that you and I have come to share, this is their one chance to stop us, before more of my reforms and innovations take root, before it seems normal to have elves and dwarves for neighbors and undead guards protecting city walls, before a generation has grown up into adulthood thinking of this glorious state as the way of the world. If they don't burn it down soon, the roots of our work will have grown to deep and our already prodigious strength will be far beyond any hope they have of overturning it. With my religion growing in the South, the Synod to take place in the North, and its advocates spreading here and there as fast as seeds blown on the wind take root and grow...the Slane Theocracy is becoming ever more isolated and they will grow weaker and weaker with every passing season. Were they fools...well...bigger fools, I could simply let time run its course and wait for them to collapse in on themselves, but they're wise enough to recognize my work and my nation for the threat to their beliefs that it is, and so they will strike. They will strike hard, and they will leave nothing remaining unless they're stopped. I am asking your help to prevent that by building this integrated military force, to show them that we will defend our ideals and our collective future. Now, what do you say?" Ainz asked, his voice had carried with it the weight of his passionate belief and the sharpness of his high level of charisma, and Pluton impulsively knelt in front of the Sorcerer King.

"It will be done." Pluton said. "I am your man until I am a dead one...hell, maybe after!" Pluton added with a wry sense of humor.

Ainz clapped him on the shoulder, taking care to restrain himself from his full strength. "Good man." Ainz said.

Leinas felt goosebumps on her skin as the Sorcerer King spoke, his voice carried such power and passion and he seemed to know exactly what to say to secure his audience's support. Briefly she wondered if anyone from the Slane Theocracy had ever really even bothered to speak with him, she couldn't help but think that they can't have, else it would not be acting as it did.

"Sire, may I suggest the head of the mage's guild as well? He and I know each other very well, and his presence will add credibility among the magic casters just as I do among the adventurers." Pluton said tactfully.

"Summon him, and let us see what he has to say." Ainz responded. Pluton got up and rang a bell, a few moments later a messenger was at the door, Pluton spoke for a few moments, and the young fellow ran off.

"It will be but a few minutes I'm sure sire." Pluton said, and the small talk began to fill the time, until at last another knock at the door saw Rakesheer enter and bow deeply to the Sorcerer King before he was prompted to recover, take a chair, and seat himself beside Pluton. Ainz and Pluton filled him in on the pending events, what Ainz foresaw and why, and he paled first when the notion of Ainz using his magic came up, then then he paled further when Ainz informed him it was going to be taken off the table if it could be. Ainz explained his motivations for waging a more conventional war, and Rakesheer asked...

"Sire, after you win this war...what then? I assume with your far thinking nature you have goal beyond simply standing in the heart of Kami Miyako and accepting surrender." Rakesheer asked.

Ainz could not smile, but they could feel his grin. "I do. Several, depending on how the war progresses." He said, while in forefront of his mind he thought, 'Shit...what do I do then? What the fuck do I do THEN?!' To cover the silence, he let out a noble laugh as his mind raced, and he jumped to the first thing to come to mind, "I suppose I can tell you one of them at least..." He said, and both Rakesheer & Pluton leaned in with great interest. "I intend to divide up the Slane Theocracy into various city states, and over the course of time, gradually integrating one after another as they grow more and more accustomed to our ways, and more and more dependent on our nation for their prosperity."

"But that could take generations...centuries..." Rakesheer said, only to blush immediately as he realized how stupid what he just said really was.

Ainz looked at him, and Rakesheer felt the sarcasm as Ainz said, "Do you think that will really be a problem for me? What does it matter if they all submit to me in two years, or twenty, or two hundred? This way is perhaps the most bloodless of a postwar period. If I have to swallow the nation whole, I have plans for doing so, but that will only be necessary if they continue to fight far beyond the time when they are evidently defeated." The pair looked at one another, and Ainz's mind raced through what he remembered of history, he drifted off from the subject as he tried to remember how many years it had taken for the English & the French to end their fighting with one another.

"Just...how many different plans do you have for this conflict sire?" Rakesheer asked curiously, and Ainz, having not really heard him, and having drifted off subject in his own mind, absently said...

"Oh, one hundred & twelve."

"A hundred and twelve different campaign plans?!" The two said at once in shock, with such surprise that Ainz snapped back to reality cursing his absent mindedness.

'Shit...what did they actually ask?! Oh fuck...they asked how many plans I had for the theocracy, that must be what they meant...goddamnit.' He thought furiously. 'Well, I guess I'll just have to go with it.' he thought with annoyance at himself.

"No, one hundred and twelve campaign plans, and one hundred and twelve post war plans apart from it." Ainz said, figuring he might as well ham it up a bit rather than damage his reputation.

They swallowed. "It is the duty of the King to ensure he is prepared for every eventuality that his kingdom may face, this one has roughly one hundred and twelve different possible outcomes depending on a range of conditions including harvest, population motivation, number of volunteers, enemy support and cooperation, intelligence opportunities, and so on, so I must prepare for all of them." Ainz said casually, privately acknowledging that he did not even have one.

"We are fortunate to be secured by a King who takes his job seriously enough to do such a...thorough job." Pluton said in a soft awe filled voice.

Leinas felt her eyes all but bug out of her head...two hundred and twenty four plans altogether, she'd been in council meetings and knew that even Jircniv could barely find the means to create three even with a full council to support him, and she'd thought him a genius. She swallowed hard, being reminded again how wise he had been to avoid conflict with Ainz Ooal Gown.

"Well now that you're on board gentlemen," Ainz said as he stood, prompting them to stand as well, "I must resume my tour of the city, come along Leinas, we're going to visit the demihuman district."

"As you wish sire." Leinas said, and moved aside to open the door. The guild leaders bowed deeply after standing aside, and when the door had closed behind the sorcerer king, they breathed a deeply held sigh in unison as if it were shared between them.

"He's as awe inspiring as ever..." Rakesheer said, "I could feel the magic crackling off his body, its no wonder so many of the mages are worshipers of his now."

"Is it growing that quickly?" Pluton asked curiously.

Rakesheer nodded, "Yes, they see him as the god of magic, and there are now so many magic students who attend services at his temple that we've had to change our school's schedule to allow them to attend services. I don't blame them, and after this...hell I may join them." He added.

"Its growing among the young adventurers here too. Not so much among the older ones, but the younger ones ask what the difference between him and a god is...and honestly neither the older ones nor myself have an answer to that question." Pluton said, "I'm not much for worship, but he's changing the world for the better, and that's enough for me to follow him."

"I can't believe those fools in the Theocracy." Rakesheer said in a voice that was aghast and frustrated. "How can they be so blind?!" He asked, bringing his hands up to his forehead and leaning back in exasperation.

"I know." Pluton said as he got up, went behind his desk, and drew out a bottle of wine and two glasses. He opened the bottle and filled both, then took it up in hand and held one out to Rakesheer, who took it gratefully. Pluton lifted his own in turn and said, "To short wars, great kings, and a bright future."

Rakesheer raised his glass and said, "I will drink to that." they clinked their glasses together, and drank, sharing not just wine, but a mix of fear and hope and absolute confidence about the tomorrows that lay ahead.

The walk to the demihuman district took longer than Leinas thought it would, and as a result she had the great embarrassment of her stomach growling next to the Sorcerer King. "Are you hungry?" He asked.

She blushed deeply. "Sire, please do not concern yourself with me, you have work to do and it is my job to see you are properly serviced, I will not starve if I skip a single meal."

He shook his head, "My apologies, as I do not require food, it left me without thought for your own needs, it has been ages since I've eaten anything...truth be told I rather miss it, whenever it comes to mind."

Leinas stepped back and waved her hands and shook her head, "Please, sire, you needn't...! It was a very curious thing to hear someone, something, in his position open up even a little about his past, she wondered curiously how old he was, thousands of years certainly, given his intimate knowledge of kingdoms and technologies that were not even myths or dreamt of concepts anymore.

"Nonsense, I would be a terrible boss if I left you hungry, come, we'll stop at a shop, eat quickly if you feel you must, but I cannot neglect the wellbeing of my followers, or I would be unworthy of both them and my dear lost friends." Ainz said, and he gestured to a nearby stand where a counter held a number of bins that had obviously been heated from below to cook food on site in front of the customer.

Ainz walked in the direction of one, drawing shocked looks from the human behind it, and taking a seat. "Sit Leinas, and order, don't keep the man waiting. To long and he'll end up looking like me" Ainz said with a bit of humor, snapping the attendant out of his stare with a laugh.

Leinas sat and ordered a thick rabbit stew, and when it came to her she ate it greedily, the King held out a gold coin to the man in payment, and the attendant said, "Sire that is to much!"

"She'll have seconds...and...us the remainder to provide some free meals to your next round of customers until the coin is spent, tell them their meal was paid for by the Sorcerer King." Ainz said.

"As your majesty commands, the next seventy five customers will eat free of charge." The man said, awed at the generosity of his king.

Leinas finished her stew just as another was placed in front of her, and she swiftly began to devour it as well.

"I was joking about the rush." Ainz said softly. She blushed, the Sorcerer King was terrible at telling jokes.

"Still sire, I should not take up more of your time than I must." She answered, and when the meal was done she sighed heartily. "That was very good." She said, "It really hit the spot."

"Thank you." The young man said proudly, "My mother's recipe, she'd be glad to know it pleased you."

"Is she here?" Ainz asked.

"She passed away." The man said sadly, "But she did live to see me open this shop, so...she did know her legacy of good food lived on and was feeding her city."

"Everyone should be so fortunate as to hae a noble legacy." Ainz said confidently, and as he stood, Leinas rose with him. "Here, take this one also." Ainz said and held out an additional pair of gold coins. "Use it to buy enough material to expand your restaurant, and also, an idle suggestion...have your recipes written down, if Leinas approves, after having eaten in the palace of Arwintar, it must be good. Put your recipes into a book and publish it, and your mother's legacy will feed whole nations."

The man blinked in surprise, "Would people really pay for a book on how to cook?"

Ainz nodded, "In the long ago past, great chefs, the masters of their craft, published many texts on how to prepare their meals, they were celebrated heroes to those who loved the art, and were known everywhere they went, given a choice between a world that admires great music, great food, or great wars and victories, I should choose the former two over the latter, but for the moment I see no reason why the world cannot have both. As my literacy programs take root and reading and writing spread, your book will offer practical application for the new skill set, and practical application is a powerful motivation." Ainz reached into his robe and took out a seal, he quickly cast a spell and dictated a note to his floating quill. "I assume you are not yet literate?" Ainz asked.

The man shook his head. "I can do some counting, but I can't read or write."

Ainz took the paper out of the air, placed it on the counter, and affixed his personal seal to it. He then slid it over the counter to the cook.

"Here, this guarantees you a spot in the adult literacy course here in E-Rantel. On your next day off, go, sign up, and the spot is yours that very day. I look forward to see what you do with the opportunity." The Sorcerer King said, "Come along Leinas, lets get back to it.

Leinas was impressed by the casual way in which the Sorcerer King altered people's lives, he was clearly accustomed to holding power, and saw himself as the one best fit to use it. The arrogance of nobles, confident in that they held the right to power and the ability to use it best...that was quite familiar to the powerful knight. However most of the time she'd seen such power used, it had been for petty reasons, or self agrandizing ones with little benefit for any but the person who held the power in the first place. Jircniv was not above using power for personal comforts, but having spent so much time with him, she knew quite well that the vast majority of his 'casual' uses of power had been beneficial to the population, though until the Sorcerer King took him out and essentially gave him a tour of his own capitol, she'd never seen it become something 'personal' to the common people.

These kinds of thoughts were the ones occupying her mind as the human population dwindled in number and more nonhumans moved through the streets, she'd seen demihumans, she'd seen heteromorphs, she'd seen elves and dwarves, but never had she seen so many different kinds all together at once in a single place. She thought back to the reports on the demihuman invasion of Jaldabaoth, all available reports suggested he'd united them by fear and force...but this did not seem to be the case in E-Rantel. Demihumans were well dressed, she saw an ogre walk past a human without the former striking or the latter screaming. The ogre appeared to have its on business...of all things, carrying an enormous box somewhere.

"Sire, what exactly am I seeing?" Leinas asked without thinking.

"The fruits of peace." Ainz said in a contented voice. "Take that ogre, what do you know of those creatures?" He asked.

"They eat humans, they're a constant threat to villagers and are dangerous to human adventurers of gold rank or below." She replied as if from memory.

"Sort of." Ainz said. "They're meat eaters, carnivores, not specifically humans, if they're provided with food, they won't hurt anyone." He said.

"So that one carrying the box...?" She began to say.

"Has a job, yes." Ainz replied. "He's protected by law, they're not especially intelligent creatures, but they understand the simple concept of 'If I do this, I will get food, if I give this, they will give me food.' so they are capable of understanding a trade of labor for food or coin, and coin for food. Some of them are hired as laborers in the city, but most of them seem to gravitate to farms and outlying villages and to construction work where they work beside golems." Ainz said as he explained the inner workings of his kingdom.

"Amazing." She said.

"Is it?" He asked curiously. "Oh look, I didn't realize they'd built the Black Justice temple so close to us, looks like it is in the middle ground between human and demihuman districts, we'll visit there first before meeting the district representatives." He said, as he pointed to a tall black spire jutting up above the district's buildings like a lightning rod. He then continued, "It seems strange to me that it should be counted amazing." He added.

"How so sire?" She asked.

"Did anyone ever try just 'talking' to the ogres?" He asked flatly.

She blinked. "Not-not that I know of..." She said cautiously.

"I did. And evidently, General Enri also did." He said, "That was all it took to draw the ogres to support the villages, that was all it took to get them to work for us, show them that they could eat and live in safety without having to risk their lives or fear being killed just trying to live, and they were more than happy to support our efforts." He said as if he were explaining things to a child.

"Oh." She said, as she quietly tallied how many adventurers had evidently died needlessly hunting and killing ogres, how many villagers had been pointlessly killed and how many villages had been overrun by the attacks of desperate ogres, the scale of the loss was simply incalculable, there was no knowing for sure how many had perished over the last six hundred years...and none of them, or nearly none of them, ever had to. If someone had just said a 'hello' and offered a trade first. She wondered how much stronger the empire would have been if that had happened, how much stronger all human nations would have been. Such a terrible waste.

"Yes." He answered her further, no doubt having run the numbers himself. "Perhaps I should have intervened again with mankind thousands of years ago, but even I could not foresee the degree to which humans would act against their own interests." He shook his head, as if disappointed, "So much potential wasted because people drew swords first, had Jircniv's workers not awakened me to the world again, I wonder if humans would ever have restored themselves." He said, speaking more to himself than to her, quietly applauding his own casual planting of the idea that he was ancient beyond words, and he had the good luck to pass a stall dealing in glass goods and see the effect of his words on Leinas, and her expresion was awed beyond her ability to express it, or so he judged by her silence and her contemplative look reflected in the glass he used to sneak a look at her face.

After a short time they found themselves at the base of a series of onyx steps that lead up to a large white marble door contrasting against an onyx building. "So this is my temple." Ainz said in a voice that didn't have half the arrogance that Leinas expected, and then he ascended the steps, she hung back for a moment and watch silently as the Sorcerer King made the first steps towards the doorway of a new temple.

Unbeknownst to many, Leinas, daughter of a noble as she was, had not only had an education in combat...she had an education in the arts. She was even fairly good as an amateur, and as she saw the back of the Sorcerer King ascending to the heaven white door, a vision of an artistic rendering came to her mind that she knew she'd one day paint, it wouldn't be today, it wouldn't be tomorrow, it might not be until the very end of the war, but when she had peace and rest and her concerns were diminished, then...then she resolved to immortalize this moment.

When he had almost reached the top, she came back to the present and rushed up behind him, reaching him in time for his massive physical power to become evident when he grabbed the doors and swung them wide open with ease and swiftness, they parted before him like the sea of history before his will, and inward she looked, not only to herself, but within the temple, it was beautiful, with stained glass of various shades portraying different scenes high above where people would sit, and light passing through each, cast a column of that shade of light on the floor, which itself was of white stone to let the colors stand out, down the center between the long rows of pews the stone was...she blinked, it wasn't stone. She came close, going ahead of the King who kept his eyes scanning the room, she knelt and touched the space and couldn't believe it. It was grass, beautiful and well watered grass, she looked up, the cieling was painted blue like the sky, and a skylight overhead allowed a view of the sun, she guessed based on its shape it was designed to go along the path of the sun as it traversed the sky, at the back of the large open room there stood a podium, presumably for the priest to speak from, and to the left and right beside it, stood rows of seating.

"Sire, what is that for?" She asked, pointing to the two opposing positions near the back.

"Singing." Ainz said, "It is a poor way of seeing the world, that inspires no music."

"I-I see." She said, and he seemed to be satisfied with what he saw, started to walk to the back. "They did a good job." He said, leveling a king's praise at the structure.

"They did." She said, agreeing emphatically.

Ainz continued to walk to the back, and when he was half way there a slender built man came out from the back, he was dressed in a black suit with red trim running down the front, and a red band crossed around his neck under the collar of his shirt, creating a red trapezoid shape about the size of a larger coin just at the base of the neck. It was quite a...snappy outfit, but what really drew her attention was the blood red eyes. She immediately went on high alert, and the vampire priest stopped dead in his tracks, first seeing her, then seeing the object of his worship.

Ainz placed his skeletal hand on Leinas's shoulders. "Be at peace, heteromorphs who live according to the law here are as welcome as any ordinary human." He said as he leaned in, and she began to visibly relax as the vampire priest dropped to his knees and fell forward to prostrate himself before the Sorcerer King.

"My lord!" he said in awe, "I wasn't sure I would see you in person again!" He said with breathless admiration.

"You know each other?" Leinas said with surprise, as she looked back at the Sorcerer King and saw a hint of recognition pass through the red orbs in his eye sockets.

"From the Draconic Kingdom." Ainz said. "I found Igoni here when I was...resolving the border dispute, along with a handful of other vampires living like animals, trapped in a cave living off bats and rats and hiding from the beastman armies. After the conflict was over I offered his clan amnesty for any past misdeeds if they would serve as my attendants during my work, abide by the social contract, and relocated to my kingdom after everything was said and done."

"Best decision we ever made." Igoni said, "After learning under the Sorcerer King for a few weeks, I chose to live covertly here in the city except for the knowledge of a handful of human volunteer donors, and when Black Justice began seeing to the education of priests, I volunteered. Now I live openly, as does all my clan."

"How...big is your clan?" Leinas asked curiously.

"Five of us altogether, and before you ask, two serve in the city guard, one is a judge, one owns a small bed and breakfast, and of course I work here." He said politely.

"And you all...live openly?" She asked with surprise.

"Yes. Though I confess the bed and breakfast keeper had a hard time finding customers at first, they feared that staying for dinner would have another meaning entirely." The vampire priest said and bared his fangs when he laughed at the joke. "He has however, built up a good reputation and now it is routine for newlyweds to stay with him or for couples who are having a second honeymoon to enjoy an evening or two at his home. He is doing very well now. Makes rather more than I do actually." He chuckled a little sardonically at that, a laugh the Sorcerer King shared in.

"I see you've done well keeping my temple." Ainz said, "I had hoped to attend a service today..."

"If your majesty wills it, I can have people gathered within the hour!" The priest said, eager to please.

Ainz shook his head, "Not necessary, though I may return to see one in person soon. When do you host them?"

"We do four services per week, two in the day time at the beginning and middle of the week in the morning, and two in the evening after the Sun has fully set, in the end and middle of the week." Igoni said with the swiftness and precision of someone reciting from memory.

"I'll be sure to stop by. Tell me, how goes the governance of the demihuman district? You have many members from among them do you not?" Ainz asked.

"I do sire, and things are going well, there was a lot of resentment against humans at first, but our cooperative efforts and the leadership of your officers from Nazarick have navigated that tumultuous sea. There is still the problem of the underclass due to the lower property values and the limitations on access to capital and investment..."

"Ah yes, I thought about that just recently." Ainz said, "I was going to go directly to the district to discuss this...but since I am here, send for the district leaders, I will speak with them here and now and explain how I plan to resolve it."

"As you wish sire!" The priest said and rushed out with the speed of his kind.

"Your majesty has solved the problem?" Leinas said, more than a little impressed as she could barely understand what the problem was in the first place.

"You sound confused. Are you?" Ainz asked.

She blushed a little. "I am." She reluctantly admitted.

I'll explain. See property values are tied to access to money, suppose you own a home worth five gold, and you have paid three gold in value for it so far, that means you can borrow three gold of what is paid for, bringing your total owed up to five gold again. You could do this to pay for repairs, start a business, anything. But suppose your home drops in value to one gold, now your property is worth less than what you owe on it, you now have no access to any money to be borrowed for anything, and even if you tried to sell it, well you'd get far less what you owe. With me so far?" He asked.

She nodded numbly. "Since there is a high cost to maintaining areas, the precedent in maintenance usually comes from the highest value areas that pay the most in taxes, this further drives down the value of the already devalued areas, because they fall into disrepair. And so only people with lower access to resources and wealth tend to live there, and because they have little to spend, few businesses open, and few people there can work, which drives poverty rates even higher, and even those who manage to maintain ownership, are constantly at risk of losing it by missing payments, and even if they hold it, they can't use their property to leverage any loans to improve things around them. The problem here was that this district was heading in that direction, the demihumans and heteromorphs couldn't afford the better established areas of the city, so they were being shut out of the economic life of the kingdom by virtue of where they lived, when that happens over a long period of time, you can accidentally create a permanent underclass that will become culturally considered to be of an 'inferior station' and that will make it even harder for them to rise out of their current conditions, even if they had not fault in creating them." Ainz explained.

"I...begin to understand." Leinas said softly, feeling like an ignorant child who was being taught how to wipe her own ass, her own education as a noblewoman had, she thought, been thorough, but this was a shock to her.

"So your solution sire?" She asked.

It was then that the vampire returned, behind hime was a naga, a bearman, a rabbitman, and an elf female. They dropped to their knees as they followed Igoni in to the temple and saw that the Sorcerer King was indeed present as he promised.

"Sire, these are the district representatives, they represent each of the four quarters of the demihuman area of the city.

"Good, take your places." Ainz said, gesturing for them to take a seat at the pews in the front row. After a brief introduction wherein he explained the problem as he saw it, he sought their opinions, listening for a time as they spoke their minds, awash with relief as he listened to their feedback, wishing his guardians could express themselves this way.

"I believe I have the full scope of the problem understood," he said, "Now here is my solution. I create artificial valuation of undervalued markets by offering a price matching system for lending, sale, and purchase of property throughout the district to allow lenders to expand what they extend to occupants. For example if your home is worth one gold, while an equivalent space in the city's wealthy district is five gold, I will match any sale or lending price up to the value of the wealthy area's equivalent space, giving you an artificially created value four gold higher." He said. "This will apply to any resident of the city who opens up a business, with a specialized economic zone interest that compensates the lender for higher risk by guaranteeing repayment if the business fails, on the condition that the interest rate be half the usual equivalent loan elsewhere in the city. Those who live outside that area of the city may purchase property only on the condition that they personally reside there for at least three years prior to any future sale, and may open businesses within that district under those terms only if they partner with somebody who presently resides there, in order to ensure that those from outside the district who have substantial wealth do not take advantage of those with very little. Further I will provide a specialized bonus for service in the Sorcerous Kingdom's army to any district family whose family member volunteers, or post service benefit to the service member themselves if they should have no immediate family, benefits will include education, trade skill apprenticeship, business lending options, specialized veteran lending support, and a stipend for those who perform with exemplary service or who are injured beyond healing during conflict."

As Ainz spoke, their expressions looked shocked, somehow he had come to a solution that they could not imagine failing, but the part at the end had them somewhat concerned.

"Sire...you mention the army, I assume that means you expect to have a use for it?" The elf woman said.

Ainz nodded. "I do, you will hear from Pluton and Rakesheer in the Adventurer & Mages guilds soon on that subject, suffice it to say for now, that fighting is coming, I will not compel any unwilling figure to fight for me, but those who do so voluntarily, will be well rewarded for the risks they take on our Kingdom's behalf, you will not be used up and thrown away as either Jaldabaoth or the Elf King do those who served them." He said with ironclad firmness that did not invite doubt."

"I...see." The elf woman said, "Well if I can read the expression of my colleagues here, we stand as one mind that your solution to our district's increasing poverty is beyond perfection, this will give us what we need to improve our lot and allow us to elevate our lives considerably, I think even the wealthiest of humans will pay mind to us, but could I offer one suggestion?" She asked.

"Please do." Ainz said, gesturing with his hand for her to proceed.

"I would ask that your majesty send Momon among the humans again when this is announced, perhaps hold a ball for the wealthiest citizens of E-Rantel, give one of your famous speeches, and then have Momon endorse the action and promote it as an opportunity for city unity and draw the humans into eager participation, their trust of the hero is significant, and his endorsement and call for justice and fairness towards us will go a long way to ensuring that your majesty's will is carried out as much in spirit as it is in letter."

This had the rest of the representatives nodding in agreement.

"An excellent suggestion." Ainz said. "Tell me, do you know what the reward is for good work?" He asked the elf woman.

She shook her head and looked confused, "No majesty...what is it?"

"More work." He said jovially, "You will be put in charge of handling the establishment of the ball, I will hold it in three weeks time, you will have whatever budget you require and a royal writ authorizing the use of any facility you require, including the manor for the city itself. I had planned to hold a feast here in the city anyway, but instead of doing so today, I will do so later, and you will plan it."

"As-as your majesty commands." She said with an expression of surprise and an eager and ambitious grin on her face.

"This concludes my business here then. If there is nothing else?" He asked, and when there was nothing forthcoming, Ainz said, "Gate."

"This way Leinas, we've still got work to do." Ainz said, and stepped through, with her following hot on his heels.

When the gate was gone, the nonhuman leaders of the demihuman district spoke among themselves.

"Well shit. Another war." The elf woman said.

"Is it a surprise?" Igoni asked. "You lived among the Slane Theocracy humans and you lived in Wenmark, you know how the humans of those places see the undead, as well as...well...all of us. You can't have thought they'd leave our kingdom in peace, can you?" He asked.

"I don't think any of us thought that." The naga said with a hiss.

"True, but that doesn't make this any better." The rabbitman said.

"But at least between his call to arms for us and his promised benefits, our people will prosper considerably in the days ahead, our new homeland will be much revitalized." The bearman added, "Jaldabaoth gave my people nothing and took everything, assuming the Sorcerer King means what he says he is offering to us, and I believe he does, we will all be better off, plus is there really any reason to think we could lose to anyone foolish enough to fight his majesty?"

"No, definitely not." Igoni said with absolute confidence. "How he could have so adroitly offered a solution to us, to recognize the problem and address its key points while ensuring we are not taken advantage of by the wealthy in the course of solving the problem...its like he's seen this problem before."

"Maybe he has," the elf council member said, "he may be tens of thousands of years old and have seen every mistake mortals can make, he might know a dozen solutions to every problem we could conceivably have and delays solving it only so that we ourselves might learn from the challenges we're faced with."

"That sounds like him." Igoni said. "Truly we are lucky to serve so wise and generous a King."

**AN: Well that concludes the visit to E-Rantel in full, I hope I didn't bore you with my little lesson in economics, I find it hard to resist throwing in stuff like that, and I think it adds some depth to the world. Kudos to anyone who recognized the economic theories I put into play, good for you. :) I had a lot of fun with this chapter, but...it'll be the last one for the next two weeks, until my vacation is done, so...till then, I hope this is enough to tide your appetite over. Until then, reviews please, give me ALLLLL the reviews! :) Hell, I'll even make a deal. If it gets to 375 reviews before my vacation ends, I'll write another chapter BEFORE I return from that vacation, if that many people want it that badly, the least I can do is donate an hour or so of time to give you something back a little earlier than otherwise planned. Either way, till then! :) **


	15. The Last Paradox

As Ainz prepared to return to Nazarick the guardians scurried quickly back to their usual locations. Where they 'had been' was gathered around the mirror of remote viewing to watch as their master changed human society on a seeming whim. "Every time I think I have approached him by a step, he raises his game by a hundred miles." Demiurge said with a sigh of surrender. "I will never truly match his greatness."

"You know now how I feel, when I faced defeat at the hands of the lizardmen." Cocytus said. "We can never truly match him, no matter how he tries to teach us."

"My love is truly a god, it is right that humans should worship him as we do." Albedo said.

"I don't like that woman though, daring to touch my beloved Ainz's feet, even to put one foot on her neck..." Shalltear snarled.

"It was a gesture of respectful submission, suitable to do for a supreme one." Sebas said with polite firmness.

"I wonder if he would like it if we did that..." Shalltear said, a lewd expression and a blush coming to her face as she brought her hands up to only partially cover that her mood had shifted.

"As if I would let you do that first you flat chested lamprey!" Albedo snapped, and the two guardians forgot their hedonistic thought as they turned on one another with snarls as if they were going to fight.

"Those humans better work hard to deserve all his kindness!" Aura said with the arrogant confidence of a young girl who knew just what she was talking about.

"S-sister, you're being mean! I'm sure they'll work hard for the last of the supreme beings!" Mare said, clutching his staff firmly to his chest.

"They had better." Demiurge said, "A few of them at least, seem to have some potential, if they can see his greatness as we do, as for the fools who get in his way, my happy farm can always use new subjects." He said with a savage grin. "But quickly, we have to get back to our tasks, he didn't forbid our watching, but we shouldn't push our luck." He added, and Albedo forgot her dispute with Shalltear as she cut the mirror off.

When Ainz came back through the gate with Leinas, he appeared in the throne room of Nazarick, and Leinas stood at the base of the steps ascending up to it as Ainz moved to his proper place on the throne of kings, she waited silently as he made his way up, memorizing every feature as he took his well deserved seat.

"Good to be home again." Ainz said, "Now Leinas, you've served me well on our little tour, and you'll accompany me again to the ball in three weeks, but in the meantime, well there is scant need of security here, so I have another task in mind for you."

Leinas knelt with head down. "Name your desire, and I will see it done my lord." She said.

"I will send you back to E-Rantel tomorrow...for now you may take quarters here, pack whatever things you'll need, including any arms and armor you think suitable to your use, but when you've prepared yourself and gotten rest, tomorrow when you return to E-Rantel you'll take up a position in charge of the city, you know the policies I intend to implement, and you'll see to their effective implementation. Also, before you leave Nazarick I want you to visit the library and borrow several books of strategy, you will need them in your capacity as a general, I will be placing a number of undead and demihumans from the Abelion Hills under your authority, and I want you well versed in the subject when the time comes."

Leinas looked dumbfounded. "Sire, I'm a good...and if I flatter myself...a great warrior, but I have never commanded an army before."

"Then now is the time to learn, isn't it?" Ainz said simply. "You needn't worry, the finest education available will be provided to you in order to ensure you are prepared for the task that lies ahead. You needn't fear, all will proceed according to my design, and I will forgive the mistakes that come in the process of learning." Ainz said in an unusually gentle voice.

Leinas kept her head lowered, "It will be as your majesty commands, to the heart of Kami Miyako and beyond." She said softly.

It was then that guardians and maids began to filter back into the audience chamber and the Sorcerer King gestured to a maid. "Escort General Rockbruise to some quarters overnight, then take her where she needs to go to be properly outfitted for both an education in command, and equipment for combat against skilled humans, whatever she needs, provide her." He said, and one of the stunning maids bowed and approached Leinas.

"This way please." She said, and Leinas stood, bowed, and turned to follow her.

"A productive journey sire?" Demiurge asked politely.

"Very much so, there will be much work for yourself and Albedo in the days to come, but at least the coming war will be well seen to, though I would like to see Aureole Omega in my chambers later, she will be tasked with overseeing the generals at large." Ainz said, though his expression was as fixed as ever, they could hear the wicked smile in his tone, and their expressions matched that tone as Ainz began to chuckle at the foolishness of the Slane Theocracy.

Three weeks later, after the massacre at Wenmark, Ainz found himself and Leinas standing in the greatest hall in E-Rantel, the wealthiest members of the city's new elites were there, these were the people who had risen to power and prominence after the old elite had fled the city, back when the massacre of the Katze Plains left the established elites fearful of what the undead would do to the residents. So many had sold their homes for next to nothing, or simply abandoned the homes entirely. Ainz snorted as he thought back to all the abandoned servants who had been simply left behind as nobles who sought to save themselves fled deeper into the Kingdom. Ainz had done the unexpected, confirming the abandoned persons to be in charge of the new estates, and when the previous owners tried to apply for compensation for their lost property, the Sorcerer King had turned them down flat saying, "You cannot expect to keep what you won't take risks for, be it servants or goods. The new owners are confirmed in their new estates, and I will not hear another petition on the matter."

Now a new class of wealthy people had emerged, many of them formerly minor functionaries, second sons or further removed who had previously had no hope of any gain, now become men of considerable wealth and influence within the growing city. They owed everything to the policies of the Sorcerer King, and that lent him further advantage in what he was to say.

The elf woman had turned out to be an excellent planner, he looked around and saw the golden light of countless candles, the subtle music of several players in the corner, a long table bedecked with the finest meal wealth could provide...but here within the hall there were almost no nonhumans, this was the place of wealth, Ainz had specifically chosen to segregate it for this occasion, a rare move for him, while keeping equally high quality food distributed in the city center where a large festival had been going for most of the day, while the ball had only been going on for a handful of hours.

He had moved through the city first, with Leinas following behind him, toasting the city and its hard working citizens, there the many races had mingled openly and with ever greater comfort, the leaders of the demihuman district had exercised great care to ensure they had a covert security force to rein in anyone who got to deep in their cups and became disruptive, this was more than a celebration of the Feast of Lemuria that the King had decreed, this was a public relations blitz on the part of the nonhuman residents of the city to ensure that they were seen as good neighbors, with Ainz having quietly extended small sums to would be merchants and craftsmen in the demihuman district to create wares expressly to sell and entice more humans to visit the area and increase the flow of goods, one enterprising demihuman of considerable strength had even created a 'bus service' out of a few re-purposed wagons, which took people from the human areas of the city into the demihuman district at almost no cost to shop for materials not readily available in the human area of the city.

As the ball went on, Ainz extolled the virtues of the city's labor and he made frequent references to his observations of wealth in the demihuman district, he was as subtle as he could be for most of the evening, before at last laying out his policy shifts for the city to expand its wealth, not through one large speech, but rather through individual conversations as he spoke with the new money elites.

"So your majesty intends to enrich the demihuman district?" A well dressed human said curiously.

"I plan to enrich my entire city." Ainz said diplomatically. "Whether you take advantage of that or not is up to you." He added pointedly.

The man shifted uncomfortably, "Forgive me sire, I realize that to you all races are equal...and I would never dream of disputing your laws, but please understand that for our entire lives, these were beings to fear, bearmen, nagas, vampires, they would kill us, eat us, destroy our homes, its hard for us to share a city, let alone do business or to visit their districts and put money into their enterprises." He swallowed hard and finished another cup of wine, he had obviously had several already, Ainz didn't mind, he wanted the wealthy to be drinking, it would loosen their tongues as well relax their minds, making them easier to influence.

An elf woman approached, "The same is true for us you know." She pointed to the severed part of her ears. "Humans did that to me, not because I was a threat, but because I was born an elf. To many of us, humans were the monsters to be feared. Yet here we are, all of us, and his majesty is offering us an opportunity for common excellence, surely you don't deny the benefit of ogre labor or the quagoa guards or the dwarf craftsmen or..." She was going to continue, but he shook his head.

"I don't, but this is a lot to take in, this isn't just cohabitation in the same city, this is rubbing elbows, putting a lot of trust in those who would have, just a few years ago, have killed me, then snapped my bones to suck the marrow out of them." He swallowed more wine. "It is a lot to ask."

Ainz nodded understandingly, "True, but it is necessary to ask it. If the city remains divided against itself, with an underclass of people who have no hope of raising their station in life, there will be ever increasing tensions and ever greater animosity, I wish to head off such social disruption by shifting to a new paradigm of economic prosperity. You have prospered because of the changes I implemented, I am now presenting a new opportunity with yet more new changes. Have I steered you wrong yet?" Ainz asked.

"No." He said firmly. "No you have not. Six years ago I was a head butler, now I own the estate I used to tend for someone else. Your majesty has confirmed me in a fine future, I do not believe you would propose this to ruin me, when you could do so simply by taking away what you had previously given." He drank again and looked down pensively.

"I admit my hostility is feeding my reluctance, but it is true that if I do not take this as an opportunity, not only might I be missing out on a chance at profit, but I may participate in creating more problems in the future." He paused and looked up from his pensive posture and met the Sorcerer King's eyes, "I will take part in these programs, I can afford to risk one coin in ten of my monthly income, and I will do so on ten would be businesses in the demihuman district under your lending match program. Tomorrow I will send one of my representatives to pick up a list of borrowers for me to match myself with, we'll establish a meeting with the city bank and work out the details."

"Good man." Ainz said, and moved on. That was how the evening went for Ainz, drawing on his experience as a salary man and getting people drunk as possible and feeling positive, baring their fears as he in turn tried to allay them, his charisma stat seemed to work on overtime, and most of the time he was successful in persuading them with minimal effort. The evening wore on and on, with short conversations going back and forth and Ainz talking them up about the future, some he noted...were very light drinkers, and that made it a little harder, but he also took note of such men and women for their apparent self control and quietly marked them down in his mental notebook. That was how the evening progressed, until Ainz called the entire ball to follow him out into the main square of the city for his closing speech.

Some of them had to stagger to make it...but they were in like company among the majority of the population, and when wealthy and less wealthy and downright poor were gathered together Ainz began to speak.

"In the ancient past, a mighty people held a great event known as the Feast of Lemuria, this event was meant to satisfy the dead, that the people go untroubled for another year, thus I have recreated and re-purposed this ancient rite, so that in moving among you I could know you better, learn your troubles, allay your fears, and do the work of a true king, which is to rule wisely and well and ensure the prosperity of my people. I have seen the greatness of this city, its humans, and its nonhumans alike, coming together into one body shows me not only how you are different, but by the many ways in which you are alike. You all of you desire a good future for yourselves and your heirs, to eat good food, to sleep safely in your own beds, and to never struggle to rest, kept up by the noise of an empty rumbling belly. By the policies I have laid out, I intend to solve the problems that are still in their early stages, thus these small problems, do not become large ones. Much will change, but it will change for the better, and as you come together as a city, like bricks and mortar, you will stick together and shield the bright futures you deserve, that your children deserve, whether you are a bearman, a lionman, a vampire, a human, an elf, a dwarf, a naga, it is only together that you can turn the present into the foundation of a golden age for the future. Your heirs will look back with pride on the way in which you came together, your heirs will say you faced the challenge of your past, and overcame it, that in your present, you chose to set aside old wrongs, and clasp hands of skin, fur, scale, undead, or whatever else you may be, and become as gods of wisdom in your own right, setting an example that all others who come after you must struggle to equal. As you do these things, know that I am rightly proud, and you have every right to share in that pride, in that self respect that is the foundation of all courage and integrity, both on the battlefield and off!" Ainz raised a cup high, and the gesture was imitated by his many citizens, "So drink well today, for tomorrow you will be working hard to build the future, and it is going to be very hard work! Hail to the people of E-Rantel!" He finished with a shout, which as answered in turn with...

"Hail the Sorcerer King! Long may he reign! Long may he reign! Long may he reign!" by the crowds, who found their unity in a shared allegience to a ruler who backed them all.

When it was done, Ainz stepped through a gate, leaving Leinas to manage the remainder of the affairs of the city, as he returned to Nazarick.

Demiurge was waiting for him when he arrived. "Sire, its done."

Ainz felt confused for a moment, but covered by saying, "Oh good, how was it handled?" As he walked to the throne.

"Well sire, the Theocracy slipped their assassins into King Handor's chambers just like they did when assassinating King Caspond, and they butchered the fool in his bed, or so they thought."

"They thought?" Ainz asked, now thoroughly confused.

"Yes lord Ainz." Demiurge said, "I know how much he has displeased you in the past, so as soon as I found out they were going to kill him, I had him replaced with a doppelganger and brought the real one here, right about now, they're probably wondering why 'King Handor' hasn't come down from his room yet. They'll find the double there, beaten to death and cut to pieces, but the real one awaits your judgement, chained up with Neuronist and very confused. We have told him nothing for now."

"Whose contract was the first to 'succeed'?" Ainz asked, taking care to sound as if there were multiple possible sources.

"Were there more than two sire?" Demiurge asked with confusion?

"By my reckoning there were six." Ainz said, plucking the number out of the air.

"SIX!" Demiurge said, touching his forehead with a heavy sigh. "I missed FOUR possible sources...sire please...how can I be useful to you if I can see so little...all I saw was a possible Black Justice rogue and the Slane Theocracy! Please forgive my blindness!" He said.

"Think nothing of it Demiurge, I'm sure you will determine who the others are on your own, consider that practice for yourself, a learning opportunity if you will, and let me know when you've figured them out." Ainz said, thinking about what a terrible boss he was as he gave Demiurge the task of figuring out something he'd just made up to save his reputation.

Demiurge swallowed hard. "I will try harder sire." He said softly and with much chagrin.

"Now, who was actually successful?" Ainz said.

"The Slane Theocracy, and they've blamed Black Justice for the crime, they've also ensured that the council is packed with their own people, so they will choose the next king as well. With this, open war is only weeks away if not sooner, Neia Baraja is leading the surviving elves away from Wenmark, she will probably head towards Prart and try to gather support on the way. Remedios is in hot pursuit, it is chaos...glorious chaos...just as you planned sire, and from this chaos, you will rise to supremacy." Demiurge grinned happily. "I hope it does not displease you sire, but I have already ordered Generals Enri, Nimble, Leinas, & Zaryusu to have their soldiers assembled to formation and prepare to be summoned into Nazarick to meet Aureole, when night falls I will call in General Neia as well. I will give them recall scrolls to use when the declaration of war is made and the terms are to be set."

"Ahem, yes, but first, bring King Handor to me, I would have words." Ainz said with a grim voice.

Demiurge hummed a jaunty tune as he walked away, and he was still humming it when he came back dragging a fat and confused King Handor, who was naked save for his chains, and threw the shivering idiot at the foot of the steps leading up to the Sorcerer King's throne.

"You know who I am I assume." Ainz said in a voice thick with hostility.

King Handor couldn't speak, but he nodded quickly as he pissed on the floor in terror.

"You stole from my largess, you opposed my followers, you were party to the effort to have them killed for no other reason that they were loyal to me, you sought to have your own king killed, you raped your helpless maids and abused your office for personal gain, both as a count and as a king. What do you have to say for yourself?" Ainz asked, just as Handor's bladder finished emptying itself on the stone floor.

"That..." Ainz said, pointing at the puddle, "is not a persuasive argument." His voice was thick with sarcasm as Handor's face turned red with shame.

"Now, what do you have to say for yourself?" Ainz asked again.

"Speak!" Demiurge said to the silent King, and compelled by the voice of the demon bard, Handor answered.

"I am the king, I am a noble, I can do whatever I want. I deserved the wealth I had, and much more besides, what else are the pointless lives of peasants for but to enrich their betters? What else is a woman for but to warm the beds of those who were born to own them?" Handor's truthful words spilled out of his unwilling lips, and Ainz sat through it and listened to very filthy, vile, evil word, and showed no emotion whatsoever until King Handor had finished speaking.

"Well there is good news, great news, best news...and sadly some bad news, King Handor." Ainz said, and confusion formed on the man's face.

"The good news is that you are here because the Slane Theocracy was going to kill you, they stacked your council with their own people, and were having you killed last night so they could blame Black Justice, place a more amenable puppet on the throne, and justify calling for the Theocracy to send soldiers to restore order against the rebels...my people...who killed King Handor...that's you...and try to do what you failed to do last time, but on a large scale. The great news is...they think they've succeeded, the assassins who 'killed' you were the same ones who you used to kill King Caspond, and they 'killed' your doppelganger instead. Before long, everybody will think you're dead, but you're not, and in the best news of all, you won't be dying for a very long time, indeed I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't die until a very...very...very old age." Ainz said with great enthusiasm in his voice.

King Handor's face went from shock and relief to ever greater heights of happiness, but then he remembered the bad news, and he asked..."What then is...the bad news?"

Ainz leaned forward in his throne and said, "You'll regret all that wonderful news I've just given you, every moment, every second, every hour, every day, for as long as you live, every single moment will be spent in madness inducing suffering, perhaps greater than what anyone else has ever suffered in my home, for all your crimes, you will provide countless entertainment, you will be skinned for scrolls, eaten from the inside out, have your favorite body parts cut off and healed, consumed, or be forced to consume them yourself, every innovation in torture will be tried out first on you, but you will not die, not from any of it, not from a single injury, you will be healed to start all over again, until your death which we will delay as long as we possibly can, you will beg for mercy and receive none, not until either your withered ancient body finally dies of old age, or I have forgotten why you are being punished, and I will never forget what you have done." Ainz said, prompting the naked monarch to shit on the floor in terror and scream for mercy.

"Take him to Neuronist Painkill, tell her to get creative, and take as much time as she wants, to do whatever she wants, along with the rest of her people, but to make sure he never stops screaming." Ainz said, as Handor got a jump on the screaming, when Demiurge, humming his jaunty tune again, grabbed the fallen King by his hair and began to drag him away.

Handor's eyes were wide with terror and pain as he was dragged away, the stone floor cool under his ass, his legs kicked wildly and his hands tore hopelessly at the impossibly strong grip holding him fast, his nails tore from his fingers and painful as they were, he barely noticed even as the blood ran down his skin, the rattling of the chains seemed loud as thunder even over his screams, but nothing changed but his level of exhaustion as he was taken ever deeper into Nazarick, until all he could do is lie limply and whimper in pain as he was returned to the dungeon...but not quite the same room, this one was larger, it had more...instruments in it, very unpleasant looking ones, some familiar, some foreign, none of them gave him hope or comfort.

He was secured to a table, having lost the power to struggle further, and his eyes adjusted further to the change in lighting, and then as the one called Demiurge left the room, Handor saw someone he knew. "Nigrand? Nigrand en Tusia?" He asked in shock, the man was a shadow, a shell of his former self, his eyes closed and he hung limply on a rack that had been tilted up. But when he heard his name, his eyes snapped open. "Count Handor?" He said in shock.

"King...King Handor." He replied.

"How long have I been here...?" He asked softly, his voice was hoarse and broken, and as Handor looked over his body, it was no wonder, scars, burns, missing fingers and...other apendages. Handor swallowed hard.

"Prart fell...maybe six months ago I guess." Handor said softly, "If you came here with its fall, then I suppose its been that long."

Nigrand began to sob like a broken child. "I'm not baron Nigrand now...my name is worm...I thought I'd been here years...that I was closer to death by a lot...six months...oh by the gods...how much more..." He broke down sobbing, further, and then the most disgusting creature Handor had ever seen came in.

"Hello, welcome to Nazarick, my name is Neuronist Painkill, and I have only one question." The disgusting slimy thing reached down and took up an unusual instrument. Handor's eyes went wide as the slimy hand moved from his chest downwards, it leaned in close and asked in an almost dusky voice..."Do you know what kidney stones are?"

King Handor could not answer through his screams, as he saw his terror reflected back at him through his old partner in crime, the broken body of Baron Nigrand, who had been as Handor was, and was now as Handor would soon be. And the screaming never stopped.

**AN: Some of you CHEATED a bit...looking at you Pervy. ;) And a few others, but hey, I'm a man of my word and I didn't impose any restrictions on just "HOW" it got to 375...really should have said 400, but oh well. Anyway here is the promised chapter, that leaves only the epilogue, outline, and the Q&A chapter to publish here and then that is all she wrote for this one, and its back to God Rising until the end of the story. If you don't remember him, Baron Nigrand en Tusia was the corrupt noble in Prart that Neia Baraja overthrew in Chapter 10 of 'God Rising'. You might also notice I've mentioned an event or two that hasn't happened yet in God Rising, but those are the next important events to be mentioned in that story, the war is nigh upon you, and the New World will be remade in the days to come. **

**If I may be honest, I'm NOT 100% satisfied with this chapter, honestly I'm only about 90% satisfied, I may go back and rewrite a few fragments here and there at some point in the future, but at 90% I'm satisfied enough to go ahead and keep my promise to upload a new chapter today in response to the unexpected goal being reached. I really did NOT expect that many reviews to come in that fast, even with the 'cheating' that went on that broke the spirit if not the letter of the review request. ;) No worries, I'm not even mad, that just means y'all liked it enough that it was one of those 'anything goes' moments, and quite frankly that you saw my story that way is a hugely positive review all by itself. Thanks for reading, leave reviews if you like or don't like or have suggestions and so on and so forth. **

**Again, any questions, leave them in the review or send them in pm and I'll add them to a Q&A release bonus when it is all over. **


	16. Epilogue

Epilogue -From Lemurian Paradox ending to the war in God Rising-

_Baharuth Empire_

The return of the emperor brought with it sweeping reforms, the minister of the interior was sacked and he was replaced, though not imprisoned or executed, he was forced to retire and a younger person was appointed to the task of handling internal affairs, special emphasis was put on the orphanages and poor houses and other disenfranchised zones, with a special commission of inspectors set to the task of checking on the facilities. The farm where Kuuderika and her sister had been sold and worked was eventually found, and the overseer and owner were buried alive. The little girl's parents were also found alive, and they were swiftly beheaded, with the heads sent to Carne village along with a personally signed letter from the emperor himself, confirming that when she came of age, an estate would be prepared for her to make up for the misfortunate that was allowed to befall her over her parent's folly. In the days ahead when a noble was dispatched, the emperor took special care that the young children were not allowed to be exploited by the fallen parent for personal gain.

The emperor also became a regular fixture on the streets of the empire, regularly walking the streets with nobles and members of the council. The priests reviewed the sacred text of Ainz Ooal Gown and found it easy to accept from a practical and moral perspective, and the resolved to follow the lead of the bloody emperor and in the coming synod, support the godhood of Ainz Ooal Gown, though they were divided on whether to add him to the existing polytheism or to have him stand alone, they resolved that should the question become lopsided in the synod, they would unite behind the side in the lead. Jircniv's meeting with Neia became a defining moment for him that would not be fully appreciated for years after the event, however for Count Yvas the impact was abundantly evident from the outset, with sketches of the young woman circulating throughout the school, beginning the revolution in art that would in time spread throughout the new world. The sweets vendor for his part, became a popular figure in the palace and he ended up opening the first 'chain' establishment of the new world, while the baker, driven by his guilt over beating a starving child, became a regular donor and supporter of orphanages, and was eventually recognized by the emperor himself for his charity work.

When the legions marched out on declaration of war, there were forty thousand under General Nimble.

_Carne Village_

After Ainz's visit, Neia and Enri became fast friends, corresponding by letters back and forth both before, during, and after the war. The arena became an immediately popular spot to visit, with Osk resettling in Carne soon after, and sending word to every contact he had that aspiring champions should come to the great arena to test their mettle and prepare for their time as adventurers. When the war broke out, volunteers among the humans and the dwarves swelled the ranks of Enri's goblin army, and many of them would serve with distinction over the course of the war. Kuuderika became like a sister to Nemu, and the two girls were left in the care of Lupusregina Beta for most of Enri & Nferea's time away during the war, in time manifesting considerable talent with magic that secured them spots in the magic academy when the war would eventually end.

When the goblins and volunteer humans, dwarves, and elves marched out, they were seventy five thousand strong under General Enri.

_Lizardman Village_

The lizardmen volunteered almost half their population for the war, though in the end Ainz only accepted two thousand total due to equipment limitations at the time of the outbreak of hostilities, and another two thousand from among the toadmen, in Zaryusu's absence Crusch Lulu goverened wisely and furthered the projects of the small village as much as she could given the reduction in manpower, however she shifted her focus to more manageable aspects, increasing literacy, creating an appreciation for the arts, and creating more living space for the veterans and the young, and completing open trade routes with the toadman village and the road that would link them to the great highway that would connect them to the world.

_Dwarf Kingdom_

The massive need for runecrafted weapons and armor gave the dwarves incredible wealth, and the phrase 'rich as a runesmith' entered the common vernacular long before the war ended. Dwarf soldiers filled the ranks of Zaryusu's army, along with a smaller population of Quagoa for good measure. Production facilities were temporarily expanded and undead labor grew in great demand, such that the tunnels under the mountain were so large that when the war did eventually end, the old production facilities became the site of entirely new cities...which were repurposed to become centers of beer production and storage using the unique innovation that the Sorcerer King had been so inspired by. Before the war ended, every military barracks and port, and every adventurer's guild headquarters, had at least one such cask to provide fresh cold beer to those visiting or residing in their halls.

_E-Rantel_

The adventurers of E-Rantel, as well as the mages, were quick to volunteer when Rakesheer, Pluton, & Momon called for aid, and hot on their heels were the common citizens from human and demihuman districts, even before the Sorcerer King's promise of ample rewards were delivered, people were already lining up to fill the ranks to fight for their homes, their kingdom, their god, and their future.

The force placed under Zaryusu's command in the end when he marched out, contained a combat ready force fifty thousand strong.

_Nazarick_

When the festivals were ended and Ainz distributed his tasks to the guardians, work was already well under way, for they had been observing his actions and took careful notes, such that they had a jump on his orders before he gave them, and...for once...felt they had understood their lord's unfathomable plans, until he threw them for a loop by accident with a passing remark that had them reevaluating everything and making 'obvious improvements' that he had some how mysteriously hinted at, and driving them mad with his obvious superiority, prompting him to try to joke with them about how they seemed to know it all, leaving them in despair and morose at their cluelessness prompting his sarcasm, which in turn reminded him at how bad he was at making jokes.

When war was officially declared shortly after 'word came' of the death of King Handor and the new king effectively initiated hostilities by inviting the Slane Theocracy in to help put down the 'insurrection' of Black Justice,, Ainz mustered up the pop forces of Nazarick, the summons he could manage, the dragons under his command, giving him a total military force of some thirty five thousand, nominally the smallest of all his supporting forces, but in reality it was overwhelmingly powerful and highly flexible.

_Black Justice_

While Neia took little part in the events of Ainz's tour of his domain, her meeting with the great leaders had left its mark, she gained a reputation as a dangerous figure, a terror incarnate, and her skill with speech as an evangelist set her on a path to leadership that would make her guidance central to the outset of the war, though it would take time to gather them all together, when gathered together Black Justice had a military strength of seventy thousand strong, when united with Red Paladins and the reformed Paladins that would emerge under Gustav Montagne. When they were joined by volunteers from the Abelion Hills, they would be increased by another five thousand.

The Feast of Lemuria around the Sorcerer Kingdom would come to be regarded by future historians as 'the last hour of peace' until the war ended, and its repetition in later times came to include a commemorative moment of silence for the fallen, something Ainz considered fitting due to its origins from his world, and a clever baker during the first anniversary of the festival, baked his treats in the shape of the Slane Theocracy's sigil, and sold them to people in great numbers to consume, commemorating the Theocracy's inevitable doom, it became so popular that this became the unofficial treat sold at that time of year.

_King Handor_

The survival of King Handor was never made public, he was believed to have died before the war, making the Sorcerer Kingdom's denials about having had him killed...entirely truthful, though Handor was hardly grateful for his life having been saved from Theocracy paid assassins. His screams alongside his comrade became a favorite chorus of Shalltear Bloodfallen's, and she developed all new torture techniques on the fallen king's body, he became such a favorite that when he did eventually gasp out his last scream, she mourned him. If his ghost appreciated the sentiment, it did not stay to let her know.

_Leinas Rockbruise_

Leinas assumed her duties as what amounted to a mayoral position, a position that she was not initially prepared for, and but for the advice of her undead staff, and some well meaning human and demihuman visitors, she might have made a right mess of, as it was, she settled into the job on a day by day basis, relying on a ring of sustenance to let her function without sleep for days on end, learning military strategy and logistics at night, and spending the day on administrative instructional tasks, helping to implement the programs she watched the Sorcerer King implement. It was a heady task that in the future she would remember only in fragments due to the hustle and bustle she was forced to endure. She did come to appreciate her role and the faith placed in her, and when she had to abandon the position to serve as a full time general, she found herself looking forward to resuming a peacetime role under the rule of her undead master. Her favorite part of every day would become looking at her face, and seeing it clean of the vile affliction that had shaped so much of her life.

**AN: Well this concludes the Lemurian Paradox, not much left in 'The Queen in the Sword' and then 'God Rising' will be the only story I have going. I had initially planned to break up the wartime story line into different elements for each army, but I've decided not to do that, instead they'll be combined and successive chapters (depending on action length) and the story will run to its completion. To be frank I wanted to do a larger epilogue for The Lemurian Paradox, but there is really very little time between the end of this story and the outbreak of war, and I have a MUCH larger epilogue for after that story is complete, and yes it is mostly written and no you can't see it yet.**

**In the meantime, reviews are welcome, but really not necessary for this chapter since it is just the epilogue for a side story and the epilogue only covers a very small amount of time between the close of the last engagement and the return to the main plot...but hey, review it if you want to. :) **


	17. -Outline-

**AN: Since there has been the occasional expression of curiosity on how I put my stories together, as a little bonus I'm adding the outline I went from, detailing what I worked off of (minus research notes) to put the story together, some authors may work best from writing off the cuff, free form, and I can appreciate that in small doses, but if I see something shiny, I'm distracted...oh what was that...where was I?**

**Well wherever I was, I use outlines like this to help keep me on track, I find it makes telling the overall story a WHOLE lot easier. Sometimes it gets expanded, or something gets cut, never let a plan get in the way of a good story, but if this is something you wanted to see, well here you go, but if it isn't...well I'm not going to fucking make you read further. ;) Either way, here you go.**

**Lemurian Paradox -OUTLINE-**

**Part I: Baharuth Empire**

-Leinas acceptance

-Greeting the emperor

-Meeting the priests

-The wellbeing of their families (Cut, focus on presence, memory for impact)

-The temples views

-The upcoming Synod

-His views on the gods

-Arena / Go Gin

-Count Yvas and the school

-Meeting the nobles

-Nobles concerns

-City projects

-Meeting the military

-Concerns about their recall

-Concerns about who they'll fight

-Concerns about their treatment

-Commander conference (Nimble)

-Great feast declared, Lemurian Paradox title revealed

**Part II: Carne Village**

-Reunion with Enri & the Barears

-Observing goblin training

-Observing structure and order of the growing town

-Enri's educational progress

-Ordering them to prepare for war

-Enri given full command over goblin troops, volunteers from Carne

-Neia Baraja (common ground, flap the unflappable)

**Part III: Lizardman village**

(e = emphasis/overlap)

-Zaryusu's education (e)

-Growth of the educated population

-Public works (e, RotL story)

-Trade

-Volunteers for military expedition

-Zaryusu given command over an army

**Part IV: Dwarven homeland**

-Mining improvements -Cut, banal-

-The fruits of peace

-The runesmiths and their products -I like beer-

-Trade

-Meeting with the government

-Calling for military volunteers, volunteers placed under Zaryusu

**Part V: E-Rantel**

-The Adventurer's guild

-Training

-Pluton

-The Mages guild

-Education

-Rakesheer

-The common people -wrinkle, challenges, vignette/econ-

-The demihuman district -minor leadership, vampire presence-

-Calling for volunteers, volunteers placed under Zaryusu include adventurers, elves, dwarves, quoga, and common humans

-Black Justice temple visited

**Part VI: Abelion Hills** _-CUT DUE TO SHORTAGE OF CANON MATERIAL-_

-Demihuman integration progress

-Volunteers called for

-Undead force raised, Leinas given command of integrated force of undead and Abelion hills army

**Part VII: Revelations**

-Message dispatched to Neia that she will be given generalship over the entire Black Justice military machine

-Handor assassinated


	18. Q&A

**AN: Well I promised a Q&A, so here you go, I 'think' I got them all, but nobody's perfect...some just get a little closer than others. ;) **

Q. Why cure Leinas easily?

A. Because there is no context in this story that would make her curse interesting and the focus of the story required her devotion, plus...its hard to imagine Nazarick being unable to cure a simple monster's curse. Failing against Yggdrasil magic weapons...maybe, but an ordinary curse from an ordinary monster in the New World, one a human could defeat? Nah. I'm sure a very interesting one shot could be set around her having to accomplish something in exchange for a cure, but that wasn't the story I was going for. So I chose to just get it out of the way.

Q. I disagree with your economics, you should read Sowell.  
A. Not really a question, but I disagree with the man, flatly put, he's wrong, which isn't to say he's an idiot, but he certainly ventures into nutball territory far more often than one should expect. He's not wrong about 'everything' of course, but this is one of the areas where he is. I'm a firm believer in the notion that a nation that does not invest in its own citizens, is hardly a nation at all, just a collection of special exploitative interests.

Q. Two more chapters huh?

A. OK yeah I kinda lied a little bit, but not on purpose. 'lol' My outlines don't include specific chapter required lengths and sometimes it runs long enough for two chapters or more, and I tend to be conservative in estimating final tallies.

Q. Where are you vacationing?

A. Louisville, greatest city in the world, and I say that having been over much of it. :) I'd pick nowhere else to live.

Q. Can I have a chapter for my birthday.

A. Yes.

Q. Have you written other things?

A. Someone asked this in another story's review and I answered it there, but since I can't remember which story it was asked in, I'll answer it again. I have written other stuff, but not other fan fiction, I do have a few books under my belt for other subjects. 'Evolutionary Theory: An Introductory Primer', 'Robert's Rules of Modern Money Management', 'The Forever Queen', & 'Reflecting on the Death of God'.

Q. What other writing project are you working on?

A. I write for the Church of the Basement Dragon Facebook page, and I'm working on a fiction story set in the modern era in a small town in the United States. Title not set just yet, but if you write to the Basement Dragon page and request a copy of the early chapter drafts, you can have a look.

Q. Why the short chapters?

A. Because its easier to go back and edit, find what I want, and its easy for you turn the page, while also being easy for me to keep to a fast upload pace to keep the story moving.

Q. When will there be more to 'Memory & a Message'?

A. I'll do one more chapter to that after 'The Queen in the Sword' is caught up, right before jumping into the God Rising' story in earnest, enough material has now been put together to give another reflective chapters in various perspectives, but it won't be a long one, I don't want to give away to many spoilers, that is why it hasn't gotten attention lately.

Q. Why no epilogue for the Slane Theocracy in this story?

A. No, nobody asked, but I know somebody is wondering, and the answer in advance is...because that is basically chapter info for a pending chapter in God Rising, it would give away to much.

Q. Wouldn't the taking of Climb be violating a deal with princess Renner?

A. Technically she could make the argument, but as Nazarick has turned the topic on its head and is essentially using them to 'safeguard' Climb since they don't want Renner to do anything anyway, it isn't a problem, as unstable as she can be without him, she's far to intelligent to fail to understand the advantages of ensuring that they want to keep him safe at all costs.

Q. Where is the justification in taking Re-Estize?

A. When nobles from Re-Estize take military action in support of the Slane Theocracy, the royal family is essentially accountable for the failure to stop them and it forces them to choose a side, this gives the Sorcerous Kingdom a blank cheque to either invade to support the royal family as an ally, or to punish the Kingdom or to stop the nobles who are opposing Ainz. Think of it this way, if two nations share a border with a third, and two of those nations fight one another, how long are you really expecting one nation to tolerate a 'neutral' state hosting enemy armies which can and do raid over the border? Not long. So, that's how.

Q. Can Demiurge ever use his regular form again?

A. Probably not for a few centuries at least. I suppose if Ainz commissioned some artistic renderings that changed the look of the Demon King and waited until everybody who remembered it died off, then Demiurge could revert, but I doubt its important enough for them to worry about.

Q. What will the highest tier spell Ainz uses during the war?

A. -Spoiler- You'll just have to wait to find out if the Slane Theocracy keeps the terms Ainz gives to them for trading away his magic abilities. ;)

Q. How does summoning buildings work?

A. This was rather unclear, so I had to base it loosely on the snap design elements of modern gaming, the basic idea being that you interface with what you're building and 'link' things together, so I had to imagine how a virtual reality system with a player interactive structure would work, and extrapolate that to the 'new world'. Essentially when Ainz casts the spell, he can select prescripted elements and 'snap' them together in ways only the caster can see to design the look of the structure, which is then raised up out of the earth according to his design. I hope that makes sense, but I have NO idea how this would relate to what the author would do.

Q. Is Entoma using Arche's voice?

A. I assume so, it would be weird if she wasn't, but there isn't really a need to revisit it. IF I do a oneshot with Arche's sister, it might be something I'd have to deal with, but for now I'm not worried about that potential wrinkle.

**Well...that's everything I think. :) Have Ainztastic days, you'll hear from me again in a few weeks when my vacation is over, but for now...The Lemurian Paradox is now being marked 'COMPLETE!'**


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